Greece’s National Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis announced the government intervention regarding the reduction of fees, charges and interest rates imposed by the four systemic banks.
On the first day of the discussion on the state budget for 2025 in the Parliament, Hatzidakis said that “From 2025, bank fees will be significantly lower, with the interventions the government is initiating, and interest rates will also follow a downward trend.”
He added that ‘this is also the policy of the European Central Bank.”
He stressed that “with new interventions, we are creating conditions for a healthier competition in the banking system, aiming for banks to grant more loans to businesses and households and to contribute significantly to addressing the housing crisis. All these are being set in motion now and will take shape by 2025.”
Τhe upcoming interventions comes five and a half years after New Democracy took over the power and the four systemic banks in the country have been deliberately setting charges on banking transactions and fees according to their likening and without control even by the Bank of Greece.
In the end, it seems that someone kept the prime minister in the dark regarding the charges on banking transactions… Because how else can we explain that it took 5.5 years for the government to discover that:
a) banks charge exorbitant fees for banking transactions that do not cost them anything,
b) competition in the banking system does not work since the price list of charges does not differ substantially from bank to bank.
c) they have refused to comply with the European Central Bank directives for increasing of interest rates for deposits and decrease for debts and loans.
A few examples:
- All four banks charge 0.60 euros for the payment of utility bills even via online banking.
- They charge 3 euros for a payment into your account worth up to 500 euros.
- They can charge you 18 euros for the transfer of €2,000 to your account in another bank in the country, and you pay also a fee to the bank that receives the money you sent via online banking.
- They charge you at least 3 euros for withdrawing 300 from an ATM of another bank (Note: ATMs have become a scarcity in suburbs outside the center of Athens and on the country side.)
To understand the amounts that citizens pay for even very simple tasks such as online money transfers from account to account, we must note that banks earned 1.85 billion in fees in 2023. The amount for the first nine months of 2024 amounts to 1.57 billion.
It is recalled that Greek taxpayers have paid 46 billion euros in hot money for the recapitalization of banks.
According to what now government officials claim is that there will be a reduction in bank fees that may reach 50%. Of particular importance for citizens will be the reduction in fees for direct money transfers from account to account.
The reduction of bank charges for direct transfers from account to account is provided for in a European directive that should have been incorporated into national legislation anyway.
What the Greek government now plans to do is to speed up its implementation, because Greeks are getting angrier and angrier over the high prices they pay for everything including food and services. is doing is speeding up its implementation.
The measures of intervention to the banks are scheduled to be announced by PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the last day of the Budget 2025 debate on Sunday, December 15, and before the voting in the Parliament.
According to ANT1 TV latest information, the fee for utility bills and telecommunications is expected to be scrapped.
They charged me 180 euro in the bank for a cheque that I needed to pay for an apartment. 180 euro for one piece of paper that allows me to spend my OWN money… This is a one week salary for something that took them 2 minutes to print and sign.
😱😱