Big banks will pay discounted fees for electronic money transfers from 2008 when the European Union's new payments superhighway is up and running, the European Central Bank said today.
In a bid to encourage large banks to use the Target2 payments system, institutions will pay less per transaction under the new fee schedule the more often they use it.
The centralised computer network will speed €1.9 trillion daily around Europe to keep the financial system operating, replacing the patched-together network of 17 systems that was rushed through in time for the 1999 launch of the euro.
The new system, which central banks will use to settle large-value payments, is due to be phased in from November 2007, with all 22 participants on line by May 2008.
Under the price schedule agreed by ECB policymakers yesterday, small banks and other infrequent users will pay a monthly fee of €100, and 80 cents per transaction.
Bigger users pay a monthly fee of €1,250, and €12.5-60 cents per transaction, depending on volume.
The ECB originally proposed 20 cents as the cheapest transaction fee, on volumes of more than 50,000 transactions a month, but, after industry complaints it was too expensive, it cut the cost further for banks making more than 100,000 transactions a month.