Vulnerable clients will no longer pay some bank fees in Romania

Romanians who earn less than RON 2,500 (EUR 537) per month will no longer pay fees and commissions for most banking operations and banking-related services, according to a draft law the Parliament approved yesterday, cited by local Profit.ro. The rest of consumers also benefit from "reasonable fees" and won’t have to pay fees for opening basic accounts. This bill transposes a European Directive that aims to increase public access to banking services. Romania is one year late in transposing this directive, which is why the European Commission was ready to start the infringement procedure on this matter. The Romanian Parliament focused on cutting costs for bank clients as only 6 out of 10 Romanians have bank accounts. The bill defines “vulnerable consumers” as people whose income doesn’t exceed 60% of the gross average salary. The gross average wage is estimated at RON 4,162 (EUR 894) for next year. This means that people with revenues below RON 2,500 will be considered vulnerable consumers. They will no longer pay fees for opening, closing and managing current accounts, for depositing funds in the payment account, or for cash withdrawals from counters or bank ATMs in Romania. editor@romania-insider.com