In response to the announcements and decisions of individual banks to increase their fees for certain services related to payment accounts, on 11 August 2022 the National Bank of Serbia (“the NBS”) published the Information for the public regarding the package of measures of the NBS on the bank fees on its official website.
According to the respective announcement, in the previous period the NBS has undertaken numerous activities, which have directly resulted in decisions of all banks that previously, i.e., starting from 1 January 2021, increased their fees for payment services to citizens to reduce those fees by 30% from 1 September 2022, or to return them to the level before the increase.
Decision regarding the payment account with basic services
In addition to the above, on 11 August 2022 the NBS passed the Decision on the Payment Account with Basic Services, which, as stated in the announcement, represents a huge step towards the guaranteed service, as it protects the standard of citizens in terms of the payment services that are needed for their everyday activities.
Namely, the respective decision has limited, i.e., prescribed the price of the payment account with basic services (150.00 dinars), and specified the guaranteed content of the said service. Thus, citizens who opt for this package of services will be able to: open a dinar currency account in a bank, take cash at the tellers and ATMs of their bank free-of-charge, get a free-of-charge debit card, as well as mobile and e-banking with an unlimited number of transactions at POS via the QR code.
Additionally, in those banks that charge orders via mobile or e-banking, users of the respective package will have a 30% discount compared to the lowest price of that order paid by users of other packages, and they will also be able to upgrade it with an additional service (e.g., credit card, foreign currency account, overdraft or check issuance) without having to switch to a more expensive package, while the fee they have to pay for that service is also limited.
Decision amending the decision on the bank risk management
To ensure future transparent and clear conduct of the banks in the event of an intended increase of fees for provision of the payment services, as well as when introducing new fees, on 11 August 2022 the NBS has also adopted the Decision on Amendments to the Decision on Bank Risk Management.
The subject regulation aims to ensure that the NBS is informed in a timely manner about the planned changes to the banks' tariff list, which further enables the timely identification of whether the banks' operations are appropriate, as well as undertaking of proper activities in this regard, all to ensure a uniform interpretation of the rules and their application at all banks operating in the Republic of Serbia.
Lara Maksimović
Senior Associate
lara.maksimovic@prlegal.rs
office@prlegal.rs