Banks are planning to charge customers for account statements to reduce the cost of maintaining automated teller machines (ATMs) after the State Bank of Vietnam rejected their proposals to charge fees for their use.
Forty banks had also asked the SBV, the country’s central bank, to increase the fees for customers using other banks’ ATMs to VND5,500 from current VND3,300 per transaction.
This is the third time that local banks petitioned for ATM charges since 2008.
Trinh Thuong Thuc, head of Vietcombank’s card business in HCM City, said banks want the charge because they have failed to break even on cards for many years.
Meanwhile, ATM installation and maintenance costs are very high, he said, with their monthly rentals alone ranging from VND3 million to VND10 million.
The annual maintenance cost for a machine is VND500 million (US$26,300) in addition to other expenses like telecom line lease and staff wages, he added.
On top of all these, banks with thousands of ATMs have to maintain more than VND500 billion (US$26 million) in cash without receiving any interest to ensure each machine has at least VND500 million.
Vietcombank said it plans to collect various fees, including a fee of VND550 per transaction for printing account statements starting from year-end. However, it will not charge customers for balance inquiries.
The state-owned Agribank began collecting VND550 for printing statements from March 31.
Banks claimed the fees will help them set up ATMs in remote areas and upgrade existing machines.
Local banks have to date issued 23.3 million cards, which were acceptable at a total of 10,516 ATMs and 37,000 points of sale (POS) nationwide, said the Vietnam Bank Card Association.
The association noted that many banks simply choose to foot the bill for customers using other banks’ ATMs instead of paying to install their own ATMs which cost US$20,000 on average. (VnExpress)
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