Saturday, September 23, 2006
Thumbs-up for ending banks’ counter charges
Tthw Star online Saturday September 23, 2006
PENANG: Several traders and small time businessmen here welcome the Government’s move to abolish bank charges for counter services but felt it was long overdue.
Economy rice seller K.F. Hoh, 64, said it was the bank’s duty to absorb some of the service charges to avoid burdening customers.
Sundry shop owner Seeni Sulaiman Mydin, 51, said some of his friends who were small time traders were hesitant to open current accounts because of the “absurd” service charges.
In Petaling Jaya, the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) welcomed the abolition of such charges.
Its secretary-general Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah said: “Banks began charging for the services as a shortcut to encourage on-line banking but unfortunately, consumers were burdened by it.”
“The onus is on the banks to promote on-line banking by using other methods,” he said.
On Thursday, Finance Minister II Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop announced that the banks' over the counter service charges would be abolished with immediate effect.
The charges abolished were for cashing personal cheques, RM10 charge for technical errors on cheques, monthly RM10 charge for current account and for changing coins worth less than RM100 to notes and RM2 for withdrawals of less than RM4,500.
MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Michael Chong thanked the government for the move saying that banks were meant to help consumers and not burden them.
“Banks must be service oriented to attract more clients.”
Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) president S. M. Mohamed Idris said that the association had demanded that the charges be abolished three months ago.
”I must congratulate Tan Sri Nor Mohamed’s initiative to abolish the service charges as it is the first time that such a move has been taken,” he said.
Mohamed said that based on the annual reports of nine banks, banks earned up to one billion ringgit from service charges in 2004.
He also suggested that the Finance Ministry investigate other service charges imposed by banks as some banks have “indiscriminate charges”.
