The EU Cross-Border Payments Regulation connects covered cross-border euro payments with equal-charge requirements and transparency on currency conversion. Its disclosure provisions make conversion costs visible to users, with compliance evidence supporting competent-authority review.
TL;DR:
- Covered cross-border euro charges must match the corresponding national service's charges.
- Requires currency-conversion transparency in relevant card and online-transfer settings.
- The rule does not make every transfer free or standardise different providers' prices.
Summary
Comparing cross-border and national charges
Regulation (EU) 2021/1230 sets rules for cross-border payments and the transparency of currency-conversion charges within its scope. Its equal-charge principle aligns charges for a cross-border euro payment with those for a corresponding national payment from the provider. Correspondence is essential: the rule does not promise free payments, erase product differences or require competing institutions to set identical prices. The provider's comparable domestic service is the starting point for the assessment.
Making conversion offers comparable
The Regulation addresses information given when a payer chooses a currency-conversion service. In specified card-based settings, conversion charges are expressed as a percentage markup over the relevant ECB reference rate. At an ATM or point of sale, the customer needs information before making the choice, including the alternative of paying in the payee's currency and allowing the payer's own provider to convert. The objective is a usable comparison, rather than merely displaying an exchange rate without its margin.
Online transfers and continuing information
The transparency framework also addresses online credit transfers involving currency conversion and specified information sent to cardholders after payments in another Union currency. The exact requirements depend on the transaction and user circumstances. Execution charges and conversion costs serve different functions, so an apparently low transfer fee does not establish that the total conversion offer is inexpensive. The relevant amounts, currencies and timing of disclosure need to be considered together.
Reading the scope and later amendments
The equal-charge and conversion provisions do not all have identical scope. The Regulation distinguishes covered currencies and transactions and excludes certain payments between providers acting on their own behalf. Later instant-payments legislation also amends the surrounding framework. A practical reading therefore identifies the payment, the provider and the fee being assessed before applying a rule. This keeps the instrument distinct from broader PSD2 execution rights, SEPA technical rules and a commercial provider's own price schedule.
Keywords
- cross-border payments
- euro charges
- fee equality
- currency conversion
- card disclosures
- online transfers
- price transparency
- national comparisons
- provider pricing
- EU regulation