Draft law would grant every Romanian a free bank account

A new draft law would, if approved, grant every Romanian citizen a free bank account which they could use to receive their pension or salary, make payments or save up. Announced by Liberal MP George Tuță at Academia de Studii Economice, one of Romania’s top universities for financial education, the bill is meant to foster financial inclusion.

“This is about increasing trust in something new, and by that, I mean electronic money,” said Tuță, while arguing that Romanians need to move past a preference for cash.

“The new regulations would have banks supply a basic financial service with no costs or commissions,” he added.

Only two out of three Romanians used any kind of banking services in 2020, according to a survey ordered by the Romanian Banks’ Association (ARB). In 2017, only 58% of Romanian adults had a bank account, one of the lowest shares in Europe, according to the World Bank’s Global Findex report.

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