Romania ranks 14 in EU regarding bank account costs

Romania is in the middle of an EU states’ top that addresses the costs involved by the usage of the services provided by a bank account. Italy ranks first, with a yearly mean sum of 402 euros, while Bulgaria holds the last position, with a mean cost of 43 euros.

Additionally, according to a European Commission study quoted by the Romanian press agency NewsIn, Romania has one of the lowest rates in the EU charged for using a bank account for various payment services, with marginal direct debit usage levels, card payments and bank transactions with retailers.

The only EU country with a lower usage is Bulgaria. „An average Romanian household engaged in 11 bank transactions in 2007”, much below the EU mean, the report goes on to show. At the same time, the transactions made while using the cash machines and the bank cashiers are the most utilised in making bank payments, followed by deposits. These three types of services, using cash, come to a total of 90% of the Romania transactions.

The distance banking services – through Internet and telephone hat is, are also rarely utilised by Romanians, the CE report shows. „There’s the need of educating the consumers more on a large scale regarding at least he possibilities and the security of using Internet financial services. Such schemes, if officially supported, will allow the implementation of more advanced foreign financial services on the Romanian financial market”, the Commission’s study indicates.