On 14 December 2022, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a thematic review on the transparency and level of fees and charges for retail banking products.

The aim of this report was to gather and analyse information in order for the EU co-legislators to assess whether further legislative initiatives may be needed in the future, as well as for the EBA to continue monitoring this issue and/or take any further action.

The report finds that:

• National legal frameworks are mostly subject to the general principle of freedom of contract. Despite the improvements in consumer protection brought about by several EU sectoral directives introduced in the past decade to regulate banking retail products, market practices for fees and charges are causing significant detriment to consumers.
• With the exception of payment accounts, the low level of harmonisation and standardisation of fees within EU Member States might cause detriment to consumers when comparing effectively costs of products and services offered by financial institutions.