In a press release published on Tuesday, June 7, the consumer defense association UFC-Que Choisir calls on the government to limit the costs of banking incidents within the framework of its law on purchasing power in preparation.
While establishments bill households 1.8 billion euros each year for their direct debits or rejected checks, according to its estimates, the association calls for the adoption of three measures:
- The capping of incident costs at the level of the costs actually borne by the banks;
- The extension to all consumers of the overall cap on these costs, now reserved for households “in difficulty”
- Automatic reimbursement of duplicate direct debit rejection fees, which are charged when a rejected direct debit is applied a 2nd time a few days after the incident, and would represent 400 million euros in incident fees deducted each year.
Incident costs on the rise since 2008: an overly consensual legal framework?
Since 2008, the prices of bank transactions have been regularly regulated by law, but these frameworks have not always been beneficial to customers, showed a survey of these costs carried out in 2021 by the banking information and comparison platform MoneyVox.
According to this study, the capping of fees for rejected checks and direct debits has led since 2008 ultimately to a 28% increase in the average rate charged by banks for rejected checks and 10% for rejected direct debits (calculations by UFC-Que Choisir). A perverse effect no doubt due to the search for an overly consensual legal compromise with the banks, which led to fixing ” often too high » the level of these caps.
Consumer associations as well as certain elected officials consider that the legal framework remains insufficient today to protect households.
A bill rejected a few months ago
Last February, a bill from centrist deputies had asked for the establishment of a tariff shield to divide by two “or even by four” the costs of banking incidents. The text provided in particular to increase the ceiling for intervention commissions to €4 per operation and €40 per month, and to €1 and €10 for very fragile customers, or to limit the costs of rejection of checks to €15. maximum for an amount less than or equal to €50, and €30 for higher amounts.
There were also plans for a stricter definition of the “fragile” customer category – which makes it possible to benefit from lower bank charges.
But the bill, which had not received the support of the government, had been rejected at first reading in the National Assembly.
Currently, these fees are capped for customers in difficulty
up to €25 per month, and €20 per month and €200 per year for those most in need. For others, these costs are limited to €20 per transaction for a direct debit greater than or equal to €20.
Intervention commissions sometimes “burdened” by additional costs
Intervention commissions (which occur when the direct debit is authorized despite an account in the red) are limited to €8 per operation and €80 per month. These commissions are not compulsory but with the exception of a handful of online banks, practically all establishments apply these fees, at their maximum level. ” To drive the point home, one in four banks (24%), all members of the Banques Populaires – Caisse d’Épargne Group, find nothing better than to increase the bill by sending their customers a newsletter to 10, 70 euros on average “, notes the UFC Que-Choisir.
These practices are all the more questionable as the fees applied by French banks ” turn out to be three times higher to some of our European neighbours, such as in Belgium, Italy and Germany, explains the association.
” In a context of unprecedented tensions on the consumer budget, the Government must seize the purchasing power law to force the banks to come to their senses on the costs of rejection of direct debits “, she urges. ” By prohibiting, for example, that they exceed the level of intervention commissions, consumers would see their purchasing power increase by more than one billion euros over one year. »