These are busy days for payments experts; as soon as the one meeting is over, another one is held, consultation documents float around and all this has to do with retail payments.
This afternoon, the Dutch Bankers Association held a meeting on the "Overstapservice", which sort of translates as account-transfer service. The service helps consumer who want to move their bank account by providing them with all information on periodic payments, passing on direct debits etcetera (see my previous blog-entry).
Both the website and the meeting show a change in approach by the Dutch banks. The NVB-website is filled with all the information that one needs in order to understand the subject. It also has a form that consumers may use when they want to move their bank accounts. So it definitely looks as if the old days of a more introvert banking sector have made way for a new approach in which Dutch banks are more open and communicative.
Of course the proof of the pudding is in the eating, but as I'm really happy with my bank (which is the case for at least 80 % of the Dutch bank customers) I won't try the service. But anyone who does try it, is invited to send in his or her experience to: fijne-en-minderfijne-ervaringenmetoverstapservice@lelieveldt.com.
