EBA publishes final draft technical standards to enhance transparency and comparison of payment account fees

The EBA has published its final draft technical standards under the Payment Accounts Directive (2014/92/EU – PAD), setting out the standardised terminology for services linked to a payment account, and the standardised formats and common symbol of the fee information document and the statement of fees.

The EBA aims to enhance the comparability of fees through standardised terminology and disclosure documents across the EU, to help consumers make informed decisions on the payment account that best suits their needs.

The final draft technical standards introduce eight standardised terms for services linked to a payment account, as well as consumer-friendly definitions of these terms in all EU official languages. Payment service providers are expected to use the terminology in the pre-contractual fee information document and the post-contractual statement of fees. The standards also prescribe a standardised template for the fee information document and its symbol and a standardised template for the statement of fees and its symbol.

The standardised terminology is currently being translated and will be made available by end of May 2017. Once the standards are adopted by the EU Commission, Member States will have to integrate these standardised terms into their provisional lists of the most representative services and publish their final national lists.