Portugal’s banks have been raising customer account fees to offset the revenue shortfall incurred since the EU limited ATM fee charges.
Having a bank account now cost, in round terms, about €100. Add to this the annual fees charged for credit and debit cards, cheques and interbank transfers carried out in branches, the cost of banking for Portugal’s account holders has never been higher.
After analysing 71 accounts in various Portuguese banks, consumer watchdog Deco concluded that bank charges have rise 60% since 2007, despite the taxpayers having been forced to bail out banks time and time again.
The price increases for customers have been justified by the banks claiming that they are unable to make so much money from business account holders using ATM terminals as these charges have been limited by an EU directive.
The Portuguese banking Association has declined to offer an opinion to Deco, but has commented in the past that if people are not happy with their bank, they can always move their accounts to a bank that charges less, referring to ‘exemptions packages’ that give more favorable terms.
Debit cards have seen the highest rises in cost from an average of €6.56 in 2007 to €16.43 this year, 123%, with Caixa Geral charging €18.72 a year.
Some customers qualify from low-cost accounts with limited annual charges but these are so basic as to be useless for the majority of customers and finding the terms and conditions in bank branches has proved challenging despite laws stating the publicity must be prominently displayed.
