Immediate transfers solve the historical problem that this banking service has always had: the delay until the money reaches its destination. The European Union has forced a series of changes to be made so that banking entities improve the experience they offer their customers.
The immediate transfers They have been available in the operations of most banking entities for several years now. Although it is a very useful tool when we want to make any payment and ensure that the money reaches its destination in just a few seconds, many of us did not use them due to the cost they have, higher than that of ordinary transfers. .
Now, the European Union requires that banking entities equalize the price between ordinary and immediate transfers starting in January. A measure with which they intend to facilitate the use of this type of financial instruments for banking clients, although it is still unknown what measure the entities will take: if both types of transfer will become free or if, on the contrary, they will become paid both.
The changes that have come since January
From next January 9, The commission that may be charged for sending immediate transfers cannot be higher than that applied for ordinary transfers. If we take into account that most banks currently offer these transfers for free, everything seems to indicate that we would be in the last days in which immediate transfers are paid. However, the OCU has warned of the different scenarios that we could face from now on:
- Banks can choose to cancel all fees and offer immediate and ordinary transfers free of charge.
- That entities choose to print the commission for immediate transfers on ordinary transfers. Which would mean a worsening of the conditions offered to the client.
- Finally, establish a series of conditions so that immediate transfers are free. The most common is that we have the payroll domiciled.
Some clients have already begun to inform their policy in this regard, as has been the case of Caixabank recently, however, many others have not yet spoken out and we will have to wait until January to find out their action protocol.
Much more secure transfers
The new regulations It does not only affect the price of transfers, but also their security. Until now, when we made a transfer, the originating bank only checked that the recipient’s IBAN was correct. Even if the name of the person we wanted to send the money to did not match, the bank automatically accepted the transfer as valid. And this was a problem in case of error or fraud, for example.
Starting in January, entities will be required to verify that the IBAN of the destination account corresponds to the beneficiary. If it does not match, it will notify you of the error and offer the possibility of not continuing with said money transfer. If the recipient’s name is not exactly the same, but almost, the bank will indicate the name associated with said IBAN before authorizing the transfer. In this way, we will also be more protected from classic errors when entering the name.
