The State Bank of Vietnam has directed a halt to ATM fee increases.
Banks with a large market share in domestic cards will not be able to increase fees at this time.
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A series of ATMs are placed on the streets of Hanoi. Photo:Thanh Hai. |
Share withPVAccording to sources from the State Bank of Vietnam on the afternoon of May 9th, the agency has instructed commercial banks not to increase ATM withdrawal fees within their own network at this time. The agency stated that this move aims to protect customer interests in light of the fact that several major card providers in the market, such as Agribank, VietinBank, and Vietcombank, have aggressively increased ATM withdrawal fees within their own networks from 1,100 VND to 1,650 VND.
Representatives from one of the three banks also confirmed that they had received instructions and would immediately halt their fee increase plans as requested by the regulatory authority.
Previously, Agribank announced an increase in ATM withdrawal fees for cardholders to 1,650 VND starting May 12th. VietinBank also announced a fee increase from May 5th. Although Vietcombank increased fees from May 16th, this information had already been disseminated to customers by its staff through various channels.
As always, the reason given by banks for increasing ATM fees is to offset the significant losses incurred in the ATM sector. According to some banks, the cost they have to pay for a single ATM transaction (including maintenance and upkeep costs) ranges from 7,000 to 10,000 VND.
The fee for ATM withdrawals within the same network is the fee charged by the bank to cardholders withdrawing money at ATMs within its own network. Meanwhile, the fee for ATM withdrawals outside the same network remains at 3,300 VND per transaction (including VAT).
In 2012, the State Bank of Vietnam issued Circular 35, allowing banks to charge ATM fees for transactions within their own network starting from March 1, 2013, and outlining a roadmap for increases in subsequent years. Accordingly, the maximum fee for an intra-network withdrawal transaction in 2013 was 1,000 VND, gradually increasing to 2,000 VND in 2013 and to 3,000 VND from 2015 onwards. In practice, the current common intra-network fee is 1,100 VND.
