From September 20, 2016 all member states of the European Union ( “EU”) transposed the Directive on access to payment accounts (Directive 2014/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014, hereinafter referred to as “the Directive”), which is enforceable since September 17, 2014.
Now anyone residing in the European Union has the right to open a current account in any EU country and to perform basic banking operations through it. (The Directive does not apply to deposits or savings accounts with overdraft). The only restriction which the Directive imposes is that a person, wishing to open such a bank account should not have another bank account in this country and must comply with EU anti-money laundering rules.
Under the Directive, in each EU country there should be at least one independent website that compares payment account fees that are charged by different banks. A faster procedure for consumers who want to move their account from one bank to another in the same EU country has been established. The transfer has to be conducted by the recipient bank and the banks bear the costs of any financial loss in the event of errors made during the process.