On the 5th November, the European Parliament votes on a new law that could put an end to misleading currency conversion charges in the EU. The proposed law, the Cross-border Payments Regulation, would force banks, brokers and currency exchange providers to be more transparent about their charges, putting money back into consumers’ pockets.
Under current EU legislation, banks and other foreign currency providers can hide the bulk of the cost of a transaction in a bad exchange rate. This means that banks can advertise holiday money and international payments as ‘free’ or as just costing a small upfront fee, but make most of their money by offering customers a bad exchange rate.
In 2017 alone, Europeans paid more than €18 billion in fees when exchanging currency, €12.49 billion of which were ‘hidden’ fees in marked-up exchange rates. This means that over two-thirds of fees are never clearly communicated.
The Nothing to Hide campaign, led by Wise, has been raising awareness of the issue ahead of this crucial vote. As you can see above, local Brussels icon, Manneken Pis, plays a lead role in a punchy statement by Belgium’s most famous political cartoonist, Lectrr. We've got more planned, so stay tuned. It's time to #knowwhatyoupay.
About Wise
Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move money around the world. With the Wise account people and businesses can hold over 50 currencies, move money between countries and spend money abroad. Large companies and banks use Wise technology too; an entirely new cross-border payments network that will one day power money without borders for everyone, everywhere. However you use the platform, Wise is on a mission to make your life easier and save you money.
Co-founded by Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus, Wise launched in 2011 under its original name TransferWise. It is one of the world’s fastest growing, profitable technology companies and is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker, WISE.
16 million people and businesses use Wise, which processes over €10 billion in cross-border transactions every month, saving customers over €1.6 billion a year.
Contact details
-
Download vCard
- Press Inquiries
-
Please write to us at press@wise.com if you have a media inquiry. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Please note that press@wise.com cannot respond to customer inquiries. If you are a customer, please visit our Wise Help Centre page.
Related topics
Related news
Consumers and SMEs lost £5.6 billion in cross border fees last year: Fintechs demand Chancellor address the problem a...
Today, some of London’s biggest fintech companies and interest groups have come together to demand an urgent review of legislation regarding hidden fees for international payments. Fifteen companie...
IBAN Discrimination: Stop Breaking the Law
IBAN discrimination happens when your bank, gym, internet provider, tax authority, employer etc refuse to accept your (bank) account because it isn't from the "right" country.
Underwhelming progress: Wise launches 2022 remittance report
Millions of us financially support friends and family abroad. But getting that money - so-called remittances - to the other side is much more expensive than it has to be.
Wise statement on the European Commission's instant payments proposal
We hugely welcome the Commission’s proposal to make instant payments mandatory. It is the only way to make instant the norm. Banks have had the opportunity to implement SCT Inst since 2017, so it's...
PSD2 - we had our say, now have yours
The European Commission has started a review process of the PSD2. They are asking how they can improve PSD2 so it works better for people and businesses across the EU. We believe that three key cha...