New comparison of payment service fees charged to consumers by banks and savings banks

Banka Slovenije works to ensure that payment service users are as well-informed as possible about the fees that payment service providers charge for payment services. To make it as simple as possible to assess the cost of payment services for users, we have overhauled the online comparison site for fees of this type. The overhauled comparison site allows consumers to compare different packages at a particular bank or savings bank, and between them. Because payment services are not just provided by banks and savings banks, but also by non-bank providers, we have added the fees charged by the latter to the site. The online comparison is free of charge to all users, and is for information purposes.

Ensuring the transparency of fees with the aim of making users better-informed is a major priority of EU institutions and also of Banka Slovenije. The aim is to make it easier for users to compare fees between individual providers, and to allow them to choose their preferred provider.

At Banka Slovenije we have identified a trend of banks ceasing to provide individual payment services, and now only offering packages of services to their customers. The overhauled online comparison site thus allows consumers to compare different packages at a particular bank or savings bank, and to compare packages between banks. This makes it easier for consumers to estimate the total cost of their payment services according to their payment habits. The new online comparison site also shows the surcharges for services that are not included in a specific package. In addition to fees for consumers, we also provide an online comparison of fees for services charged to non-consumers by banks and savings banks.

Payment services are also provided by non-bank providers who hold the relevant Banka Slovenije authorisation. These are payment institutions and electronic money institutions. Because they too provide services that until recently were offered solely by banks and savings banks, to ensure full transparency and comparability we have also drawn up a comparison of the fees charged by these providers.

We should clarify that the packages in the online comparison are standardised, as this makes it simpler to compare them. It is also important that they cover the most common fees and services in connection with payment accounts. Our advice to consumers is to contact the bank, savings bank or non-bank provider in question for more detailed information about these services and their other services.