Lack of accessibility to basic bank services in the EU is preventing many people at risk of poverty and social exclusion from using basic financial services, according to a report by non-profit Finance Watch.
The study analysed Germany, Spain and Romania as representatives of three geographical areas in the EU, finding that banks are often “reluctant” to offer to vulnerable groups an affordable account from which to receive and make payments.
According to the report, “the basic payment account is proactively offered only 48 per cent of the time” in Spain, while the ratio is 53 per cent in Germany and a far lower 31 per cent in Romania.
In Romania, payment accounts are free for vulnerable customers as prescribed by the law. In reality, however, a basic payment account comes at a cost, given that these accounts are sometimes sold as part of a package, among other constraints, noted the report's authors.
In Germany, annual fees for basic payment accounts are gradually increasing — currently ranging from €58.80 to €143.40. In Spain, basic payment accounts are more affordable but only one institution offers the possibility to open such accounts online.
Finance Watch also said that the 2014 EU Payment Account Directive, aimed to help vulnerable people access a payment account, has a number of shortcomings and omissions. The directive stipulates that these products must be widely available and affordable.
The NGO has urged EU policymakers to introduce amendments.
Finance Watch found that, in 2022, 21.6 per cent of the EU population was at risk of poverty and social exclusion, exacerbated by their inability to access a basic payment account.
The percentage of people without a payment account is already high in some EU member states. The highest proportion is recorded in Romania, where almost 31 per cent of those aged 15 and over did not have a bank account in 2021.
