Financial Services (financial supervision and regulation, retail financial services, payment services, mortgages credit, financial inclusion)
For a long time EU consumers have been faced with difficulties when using financial services, which have been intensified by the financial crisis, leaving consumers with serious concerns about the future of their personal deposits and savings, loans and pensions. The crisis has shown that financial supervision authorities were not capable of detecting the risks of ever-more complex products correctly and of imposing the necessary measures to avoid this crisis. It is therefore essential to restore consumer confidence, and protect all European consumers at national and cross-border level.
Another concern in this context is the availability and accessibility of financial services and the need to tackle financial exclusion.
An Internal Market for financial services does not yet exist: it is still nearly impossible to open a current account or a simple savings account in another Member State if one is not a resident there. Even if there are major differences in interest rates between Member States from which consumers could benefit, it is almost impossible to obtain credit in another Member State.
Finally, consumer choice in the area of financial services is impeded both by a clear lack of independent advice on financial services and complex and not comparable pre-contractual information.
What are our objectives?
We aim to…
... Strengthen regulation and supervision of the Internal Market for retail financial services in order to reinforce consumer confidence in the Internal Market
... Decrease financial exclusion everywhere in the EU
... Make essential payment services efficient, fair, affordable and with a high level of security
... Give consumers a fair deal on mortgages
What is needed?
A fair Internal Market for retail financial services which consumers trust will be possible if:
- Regulatory measures are taken to establish independent supervisory authorities at national and EU level in all areas related to financial services taking into account consumers’ interests
- Responsible lending practices are integrated into legislation and measures are taken on intermediaries, to better protect consumers and iron out differences between legislation governing this profession in the various Member States
- Regulatory measures are taken that prohibit discriminations based on residence and unfair commercial practices in all financial services areas (credit, accounts, payments etc.) and more specifically tied and bundled products, promotional rates in mortgage credits etc.
- Consumers are better protected when taking out a mortgage via binding rules in key areas such as consumer information, right of withdrawal and early repayment
- The right of consumers to have access to basic banking services with a European scope is ensured
- Information on financial services is easy to understand and comparable and advice on financial services is affordable and reliable
- The Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) brings concrete advantages for consumers.
To contact our experts on the issue: financialservices[AT]beuc.eu*
Find out more in our recent documents
Ljubljana Declaration on Consumers and Financial Services: Towards financial security for all consumers (20 May 2010)
Tying and other potentially unfair commercial practices in the retail financial service sector - European Commission consultation on the Study - BEUC response
SEPA/MIF - Applicability of Article 81 of the EC Treaty to multilateral interbank-payments in SEPA Direct Debit - BEUC response to the Commission consultation
Responsible lending and borrowing in the EU- BEUC Response to Public Consultation
Facing up to the Financial Crisis
Ensuring Access to a Basic Bank Account – response to Commission consultation
Credit Histories: Cross-border exchange of and access to credit data
BEUC’s response to the report of the high-level group on financial supervision in the EU and to the Commission's Communication on driving European recovery
Payment system endusers Committee (EUC)- position paper on SEPA Direct Debit - this document is also available in German
FINANCIAL SUPERVISION IN EUROPE- Consumer perspective
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