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ATM transaction fees to be introduced early next year
Bank customers will be charged for using automated teller machines (ATMs) from early next year.
The State Bank of Viet Nam gave the Viet Nam Card Association permission to charge a fee of VND1,000 per transaction Friday.
The fee was necessary for banks to enhance their service and recover their investment, it said in a statement.
The central bank, which described the service’s development since it was introduced more than 10 years ago as remarkable, said it would now issue principles for the collection of the fees.
It also ordered banks to publicly announce their transaction charges.
The Viet Nam Card Association first sought permission to charge ATM transaction fees in July.
The association said the bid was delayed as gesture of goodwill during a time of high inflation and as a way for banks to share the burden of customers.
But the delay coincided with strong customer opposition.
An anonymous association representative said ATM fees would be used to recover equipment and management costs and install more ATMs.
Each transaction now cost the banks an average of VND5,000-7,000, he said.
Maritime bank employee Nguyen Thuy Mai said: "As far as I know, banks don’t make a profit from their ATMs. They are an added service to customers and used to encourage people to use cards rather than cash."
Opposition
Bank customers indicated they would continue to resist ATM charges, although Ha Noi resident Minh Trang said fees were acceptable if they helped banks improve their service.
The response from architect Pham Dinh Dang, 39, was more typical.
"The ATM network here is not very good and machines often run out of money or simply don’t work," he said. "Why should I pay for that kind of service?"
Accountant Nguyen Phuong Anh, 30, said: "ATM users are required to keep a minimum VND50,000 in their accounts and the banks benefit from this low-interest capital."
The anonymous card association spokesman argued that problems were not that common. Customers forgot the times they successfully use an ATM and focused only on problems as an excuse not to pay fees, he said.
A sparse ATM coverage contributed to the high use of the machines and network problems.
The Economic Development Research Society Institute’s Dr Nguyen Minh Phong told Gia Dinh&Xa Hoi (Family&Society) newspaper that banks had to compensate customers if an ATM did not work, or ran out of cash, once they started collecting fees.
Fees might also dissuade customers from using the service, he warned.
ATMs were introduced to Viet Nam in 1994.
There are now about 12 million cards and 6,200 machines across the country. Vietcombank is the biggest card issuer, followed by Agriculture Bank and Vietinbank.
"The domestic card market has great potential," said the anonymous source.
"Banks are now ready to provide a better service for users.
"We will install more machines to meet the growing demand."
VNS
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