The Greek Commission for the Protection of Competition has imposed the largest fine imposed so far in the amount of 41.7 million euros on several banks in Greece, the Greek TV channel Sky reported.
Piraeus Bank is obliged to pay EUR 12.9 million, National Bank of Greece – EUR 9.9 million, Alpha Bank – EUR 9.1 million, Eurobank (EFG Eurobank) – 7.9 million euros, Attica Bank – 143 thousand euros, and the Hellenic Union of Banks – 1.5 million euros.
The television specified that the fine would have been even higher if the banks had not confirmed that they were in breach and if they had not agreed to the Commission’s terms.
Among the violations of the banks is the imposition of a commission for withdrawing money from an ATM of a foreign bank in the amount of up to 3 euros. The Greek Competition Commission has found that this practice has been going on since 2018.
The banks say that in two-thirds of the cases, these charges affected tourists, as Greek consumers sought to withdraw from their banks’ ATMs.
Another violation was joint arrangements between banks in 2018-2019 on whether to impose fees for a number of banking operations for which amounts were not charged until then, such as issuing and accepting accounts and payment cards, cashiering, credit operations and etc. There was also an idea to introduce identical packages of banking services. In the end, no fees were imposed, emphasize the banks, which admit that there were discussions.
The Hellenic Union of Banks was fined for the organization of these talks as an intermediary.
The Greek Competition Commission began investigating the banks in November 2019.
In addition to the inspections, the financial institution VIVA filed a complaint that its entry into the market was prevented.
As well as having to pay their fines, the banks have also agreed to a number of conditions, such as reducing their transaction fees from 1 January 2024 and not changing them for three years. Piraeus Bank will reduce the corresponding fee from 3 to 2 euros, the National Bank of Greece – from 2.60 to 1.90 euros, Alfa Bank and Eurobank – from 2.50 to 1.80, and Attica Bank – from 2 to 1. 50.
Regarding the “arrangements” made, sources from the banking sector, whose members were meeting late last night, emphasized that the exchange of information was part of the need for a dialogue with VISA and Mastercard regarding the change in the way some transactions are priced, mainly at the European level. They have indicated that in no case was there any coordination in the setting of tariffs.
Illustrative Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/low-angle-photograph-of-the-parthenon-during-daytime-164336/
