EBF’s views on the evaluation of the Payment Accounts Directive

EBF advisor: Elona Morina
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Publication date: 17 January 2020

The EBF acknowledges that the Directive represents an important and well-known tool supporting harmonising consumer protection rules on payment accounts within the Union. We also note that the recent transposition deadline of the Directive means that its complete impact and capabilities have still to fully unfold and it is impossible, at this point in time, to have a full assessment of the impact of the Directive in the market.

Moreover, several consumers’ satisfaction surveys undertaken in different member states show that consumers are well aware of and very satisfied with the switching services offered by their providers. For example, in a member state a 2019 study showed that awareness and satisfaction levels for the Current Account Switching Service remained consistently high at 79% and 92% respectively.

Finally, In line with the above, we also strongly recommend refraining from introducing IBAN-portability requirements without a detailed cost-benefit analysis clearly showing that the benefits for consumers outweigh the impact of a measure that would heavily damage the EU payment system.

For more information:

Elona Morina, e.morina@ebf.eu