Bank service will aid expats

Date: 20/06/02

EXPATRIATES living and working in other member states will be able to make cross-border direct debits to settle utility bills, pay magazine subscriptions or contribute to savings plans at home by 2005, bankers promise.

Norbert Bielefeld, payment systems director for the European Savings Banks Group, said the service would be in place once member states had ironed out differences in laws - such as covering the rights of consumers to cancel payments.

Bielefeld said the service would benefit Brussels-based workers who still keep economic ties to their home countries. His group represents 990 savings banks with deposits of €1.7 billion.

Expatriates living and working in other Member States will be able to make cross-border direct debits by 2005, according to Norbert Bielefeld, payments systems director for the European Savings Banks Group.