Payment accounts: EBA consults on standardisation of fee terminology and disclosure documents

The EBA has launched a consultation on draft technical standards aimed at standardising fee terminology and disclosure documents across Member States under the Payment Accounts Directive. The draft standards propose to:

• standardise eight terms for services linked to a payment account that are subject to a fee offered by at least one payment service provider (PSP) at national level, and provide consumer-friendly definitions for these terms;
• standardise templates and the common symbol for the pre-contractual fee information document (FID);
• standardise templates and the common symbol for the post-contractual statement of fees (SoF); and
• provide instructions for PSPs on how to fill in the FID and SoF templates.

By increasing the standardisation, and thus comparability, of fees the draft technical standards are intended to make it easier for consumers to compare offers from different PSPs and make informed decisions as to which payment account is most suitable for their needs.

Comments on the consultation are due by 22 December 2016.