A clarification on bank charges
With regard to Mr and Mrs J.C.’s letter titled «Annoyed at unfair bank transfer fees,» which was published in your newspaper on November 21, we would like to inform you of the following: The return of the payment orders described by Mr and Mrs J.C. was due to a technical problem between our bank and the corresponding ban, which has already been solved. Also, the total amount of 60 euros, which Mr and Mrs J.C. considered as fees charged by our bank, was automatically withheld by the corresponding bank for the account of the ordering bank and referred to the fees charged by the latter. Despite the fact that the amount of 60 euros was not charged by our bank as we stated above, on November 16, as a matter of good banking practice, we credited the account of Mr and Mrs J.C. with said amount. The EU directive on payment services, which makes cross-border payments as easy, efficient and secure as national payments within a member state, has been recently interposed in Greek law and our bank has fully complied with all legal requirements. Therefore, despite the inconvenience suffered by Mr and Mrs J.C., we are certain that all our customers shall enjoy a high standard of payment services. CHARIS STAVRAKIS Assistant Manager, Retail Banking Division ATEbank, Panepistimiou Street, Athens
