Starting from 21 November, it will be possible to make instant transfers throughout the Eurozone, which will only take 10 seconds. It will be possible to use them at any time, from Monday to Sunday, 24 hours a day. In fact, it is a question of a single urgency which, precisely because of this nature, will bring a surcharge.
At the moment the biggest turning point linked to the novelty of the instant transfer is represented by the need to have to pay commissions even when the money is received. This already happens at the post office: anyone who receives a payment via payment slip is charged a commission of up to 34 cents. The figure rises when a transfer is received on the postal account from Switzerland or the Principality of Monaco (the commission is equal to 7,50 euros).
To date, banks have never applied the commission on entry but, since wire transfers are a sure source of profitability for the entire system, this approach could change. According to Bank of Italy data, in 2006 wire transfers represented 16% of total payments, while ten years later they rose to 24%.
Banks such as Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit have already started the pilot phase. “There is no interbank obligation not to charge commissions to the beneficiary”, says Intesa. “The price will be defined on the basis of the customer's perceived value for the service”.
Although cash continues to dominate in Italy, the number of transfers made is continuing to rise. With regard to costs, in 2008 cash transfers to another bank (in cash and at the counter) were around under 6 euros in the major traditional institutions, with peaks of 8,50 euros. Today the average is 7,50 euros in the nine major banks, with peaks approaching 10 euros, even exceeding them if you count the extra commissions.
Particular attention must be paid to the latter. In fact, some banks also charge registration costs or the "writing line" for over-the-counter operations. In this way, for example, in Unicredit the real cost of a cash transfer rises to 11 euros. Cash transfers with debit on account and recurring ones are also increasingly expensive.
As far as online transfers are concerned, they travel around the euro, but there are also those who ask for zero, such as Credem or Mps.
