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MANILA, Philippines — “Ano ang punto ng pagde-deposito sa bangko kung babawasan lagi ang iniimpok mo?”
This was the question posed by Senator Nancy Binay on Wednesday amid the looming increase in fees for withdrawing cash from automated teller machines (ATM).
Binay asked for more consideration, pointing out that these services should have been free in the first place.
“Konting konsiderasyon naman sana,” Binay told reporters.
“How can we encourage people to save, and trust the banking system, if we keep on charging fees for transactions that should be, in the first place, part of the banks’ services?” the senator added.
The looming hike stemmed from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) lifting of a six-year moratorium on ATM fees in July 2019.
While the BSP had asked banks to keep ATM fees “reasonable and market-based,” Makati City 2nd District Rep. Luis Campos Jr., who sought for a House inquiry on the possible ATM fees hike, said that before the moratorium was imposed in 2013, banks had wanted to increase ATM charges by as much as 50 percent.
READ: Keep ATM fees reasonable, BSP tells banks
READ: Lawmaker seeks inquiry into looming ATM fee hike
Interbank withdrawals, or withdrawing using another bank’s ATM, is currently charged P10 to P15 per transaction while inquiring balance stands at P2 per transaction.
But Campos said that this could increase to as much as P15 to P30 per single interbank withdrawal with the lifting of the moratorium.
“Even more vulnerable are our estimated 4.1 million minimum wage earners. Many of them receive and withdraw their salaries twice a month through their ATM cards at the machine nearest them,” Campos said.
READ: Workers slam plan to hike ATM fees