Increase in fees for electronic banking services.

Unlike the noisy interest rate hikes, the fees for online banking services at some banks have recently been quietly increasing.

On May 8th, the Vietnam Investment and Development Bank (BIDV) officially implemented a new fee schedule for its electronic banking services. Accordingly, the fee for transfers under 10 million VND increased from 6,600 VND to 7,000 VND. The fee for transfers up to 500 million VND also increased from 12,000 VND to 15,000 VND...

Meanwhile, TP Bank has also increased its SMS banking balance notification service fee to 11,000 VND per month (previously 8,800 VND). At Eximbank, this fee is even higher than TP Bank's, with each subscriber having to pay 50,000 VND per quarter, or over 16,000 VND per month.

Previously, Saigon Thuong Tin Bank also officially increased its Internet Banking fees. Accordingly, from the beginning of May, Sacombank increased the Internet Banking service fee for individual customers from 33,000 VND to 44,000 VND per quarter.

Some banks have adjusted their fees for online banking services upwards.

Explaining the fee increase, a TP Bank executive stated that the bank is currently paying the telecommunications company (telco) 800 VND per SMS message, resulting in significant losses. Recently, TP Bank introduced the eToken application, which is more secure, safer, and completely free, as a replacement. "Therefore, customers who still use SMS OTP will have to pay a fee to cover the costs," the TP Bank executive shared.

Recently, several commercial banks have also proposed to the State Bank of Vietnam a roadmap for adjusting ATM transaction fees to partially offset the costs incurred by banks investing in ATM systems. Given that the investment cost for a single ATM withdrawal transaction is approximately 7,000 VND (depending on the bank's investment level), the current withdrawal fee rates are resulting in losses for the banks.

However, this proposal has met with public backlash, as many cardholders argue that using ATM cards already incurs too many fees (around 20-25 basic service fees) while the quality of service is not commensurate. Sharing this view, Mr. Nguyen Toan Thang, General Secretary of the Vietnam Banking Association, stated that customers should not have to pay for all of these fees, but only for the specific services they use.

The Payment Department of the State Bank of Vietnam also stated that, regarding fees for domestic debit cards (ATM cards), the regulatory authority stipulates that each ATM card is typically only subject to a few types of fees such as ATM withdrawals, intra-network or inter-network transfers, statement printing, etc.

A banking card expert stated that he agrees banks should charge service fees related to ATM cards because banks invest money in machinery and equipment. In addition, banks also incur costs for installation, operation, maintenance, security, etc. If these costs are not recouped, it would be very difficult to justify the fees. Therefore, it is normal for consumers to pay fees when using ATM services.

However, according to him, cashless payments in Vietnam are only just beginning to flourish. Therefore, banks need to carefully consider reasonable fees to balance the interests of both users and the banks themselves. Only then can banks promote these services to move towards modern banking, increase service revenue, and reduce costs.

The head of the State Bank of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City branch said that the agency is reviewing and developing a roadmap to reduce fees in line with reduced operating costs and service provision based on the application of information technology.

According to him, besides adjusting and increasing some services related to e-banking, banks have also taken steps to reduce fees recently. For example, Eximbank reduced the fee for interbank quick money transfers from account to account via the NAPAS system from 22,000 VND to 11,000 VND. BIDV waived the annual fee for customers using e-banking, and other banks such as TP Bank, Sacombank... do not charge fees for the eToken application...

According to VNE