A new EU legislation on cross-border euro transactions came into force on 16 December, which will lower the cost of payments in Euro for consumers and businesses within EU but outside the Euro zone.
The new EU rule ensures that in non-euro area Member States, including Hungary, the cost of cross-border payments in Euro is the same as for domestic payments. For example, a Hungarian consumer who wants to send Euro abroad will now pay the same fee as a Forint transfer within Hungary.
It is extremely important because cross-border payments in Euro made by non-euro area Member States account for about 80% of all cross-border payments from these countries. Currency conversion fees and the bank transfer fees traditionally generated a significant cost for cross-border payments.
