Yesterday Class 46 posted this item concerning OHIM payments and bank charges. Today Class 46 received this response from Andrea di Carlo, OHIM'sDirector of Institutional Affairs and External Relations:

"We value our UK customers, who are the third largest users of the Community trade mark system. It is a fact that if payment is made by bank transfer from a sterling account this involves a currency exchange, which is slightly more complex than the situation facing customers who make transfers within the Euro area. This can lead to some unexpected results for those customers who use the system infrequently and therefore may not be familiar with all the logistics of making Euro payments.

OHIM's regulations, which are the subject of an international agreement, specify that our fee payments must be made in Euro, as is the case with all other EU agencies that collect fees from their users. They also specify that if bank charges are levied they must be paid by the customer, so that OHIM receives the full amount. Our regular customers from the UK do not usually find this a problem as they choose payment methods that avoid fees - using OHIM current accounts or credit cards.

With less frequent customers, bank transfers are often still used. We have recently revised our payment guidelines to encourage the use of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) system which covers 31 countries including the UK. Within the SEPA countries, transfers made in Euro are treated as domestic transfers, provided the bank used by the sender of the funds offers SEPA transfers (both of OHIM’s banks, BBVA and La Caixa, accept SEPA payments).

Under this system no bank charges are levied from the sender beyond those that would be charged for the same transfer made domestically. We certainly regret the inconvenience reported by the customer concerned, who appears to have been unaware that a bank fee would be levied by both banks using the payment system chosen. We will be taking steps to reinforce the message that other payment methods might be a better choice, using the OHIM online magazine, Alicante News".