Overview
- Account-maintenance charges rose about 8.95%, the steepest jump among tracked services.
- Pricing shifts were uneven, with roughly half of institutions raising fees by about €0.48 to €24 a year and 10 of 14 common services moving higher, based on a panel of 103 banks covering about 99% of the market.
- International payment-card subscriptions increased by less than 3%, while a headline 16.7% rise in SEPA direct-debit setup stems from two regional banks as 93 institutions still offer it free.
- Offers for financially vulnerable customers remain below regulatory caps, with 99 of 101 banks pricing them at €12 per year or less, 57 applying no incident fees, and 64 charging no intervention commissions.
- The banking federation links the annual increases to IT systems and staffing costs, as some customers consider online banks to reduce expenses.