I resurrect this old thread.
Migrating to the Single Euro Payments Area: key facts
Many knowledgeable Swiss bankers here...
My main question is regarding this, my last paragraph in the Update section: Free Euro Account in Any Country Just for SEPA No Card EU Resident?
So let's say it costs 10 euros to wire money to and from a euro bank account between Germany (Eurozone, SEPA) and Poland (non Eurozone, SEPA) the charges are on the side of the Polish bank, German bank imposes no fees.
According to the roadmap from what time will these charges have to be eliminated? I don't expect Poland to join the Eurozone soon but that's just me.
Never.
The law only obliges banks to charge the same (= not "zero") for a cross-border -€ transaction, as for a domestic -€ transaction. (NB: Not for a domestic payment in local currency, should that not be the €!)
Since most banks in €-countries enable free domestic payments, they must also offer free €-SEPA transactions. Every bank would be free to introduce a charge, as long as it ́s uniform for domestic and SEPA-wide €-payments. I shall hope that competition rules this out!
For Switzerland it ́s the same: Domestic €-payments are free, hence they are free to other countries as well.
For example in the UK, domestic £-transactions are free, while domestic €-transactions are chargeable. Hence SEPA-€-transactions are commonly charged as well.