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No more bank charges for over 65s withdrawing cash in Spain
These expensive bank charges will be scrapped across Spain in the New Year
From the beginning of next year, Spanish banks will no longer be allowed to charge commissions for cash withdrawals at branch counters from people over the age of 65 or those with disabilities. While many financial institutions have voluntarily adopted the money-saving measures on behalf of its customers, the Spanish government has promised to enforce the rule across the board.
Last June, the government asked financial entities to withdraw this type of commission and many of them have complied with the official request. However, according to the second vice president Nadia Calviño, the new legislation offers further “legal protection” for these groups.
This change has been driven by the Organisation or Consumers and Users (OCU), which pointed out that financial services are unfairly geared towards younger people who tend to use digital banking, which is normally free. On the other hand, older customers usually opt for face-to-face and over-the-counter procedures, which ends up costing them more.
Through its research, the OCU found that one institution charged retirees more than 100 euros for just one account through commissions and additional taxes.
Free mortgage exchange
As another bonus, the government announced this week that it will extend into 2024 the measure which allows customers to switch from a variable mortgage to a fixed one for free. This initiative, which was originally introduced earlier this year, will now be rolled out to mixed rate mortgages. These home loans have both a fixed-rate amortisation section and a variable rate, and have become increasingly popular following the Euribor hikes.
In addition, from 2025, banks will be allowed to charge a maximum commission rate of 0.05% on variable rate changes, a measure that will remain in place indefinitely.
Finally, given the wide impact rate increases have had on families across Spain, the government has decided to extend its mortgage relief to households with a gross income of up to 37,800 euros per year.
Until now, the income limit to be able to access this measure – which allows the freezing of instalments for 12 months or the extension of the life of the loan up to seven years – was limited to households with 29,400 euros of income.
In other news: Could the Iceland volcano shut down flights in Europe again?
Image: Freepik
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