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Banks to collect ATM fees at end of 2009?
The director of the HCM City branch of the State Bank of Vietnam Ho Huu Hanh said on the sideline of the Banking & Security Exhibition held in HCM City from December 1-3 that the end of 2009 would be a good time for banks to begin collecting ATM fees.
Hanh said that collecting ATM fees is a legitimate right of commercial banks as banks have spent a lot of money on the installation, maintenance and operation of the machines. However, he added it is now not the right time to collect fees, as the state has just begun encouraging non-cash payments. If banks collected ATM fees at this moment it would prompt people to withdraw money once a month to avoid ATM fees and the plan to encourage non-cash payments would fail.
Hanh said that the end of 2009 proves to be a suitable moment to begin collecting ATM fees. At that time, the ATM network will be operating better, and people fluent in the use of ATMs. When people realise the tremendous convenience of ATM services, they will not see the ATM fee as a big problem, Hanh believes.
When asked about the cooperation of banks in order to reduce investments for ATMs, Hanh said that banks are still facing difficulties in capital and techniques.
Opinions still differ about whether or not to collect ATM fees. Some banks have been insisting on collecting ATM fees, while others don’t think it is all that necessary.
Nguyen Kim Hoa, Business Director of Sun Vietnam, said that ATM fees are necessary, and that VND1,000 per transaction will not break anyone. Hoa said that the ATM fee collection will help limit the amount of cash withdrawals, and help people get use to non-cash payments – indispensable for developed economies.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Quoc Huy, a staff of VTC South, who is using ATM services of Vietcombank and Sacombank, said he protests the ATM fee collection. He said that banks can use money kept in accounts by card holders at low costs; therefore, they should not collect fees as well.
Dan tri
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