Lapid asks BSP to further study ATM fee hike

Senator Lito Lapid. INQUIRER.net file photo / Noy Morcoso

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Lito Lapid on Thursday appealed to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to study further the reported plan to raise automated teller machine (ATM) fees as it poses additional burden to Filipinos.

The senator also asked the BSP to consider the plight of those who will be affected by the hike.

“Wag na sana nating dagdagan pa ang pasanin ng ating mga kababayan, lalo na ng mga manggagawa na kakarampot na nga ang kinikita ay mababawasan pa,” Lapid, chair of the Senate  committee on games and amusement, said in a statement.

“Hiling ko po sa Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas na pag-aralang mabuti ang usaping ito at nawa’y isaalang-alang nila ang kapakanan ng ating mga mamamayan na pinakaapektado ng dagdag bayarin na ito,”  he added.

Lapid also urged the banks to not further burden Filipinos by imposing additional charges for their services.

“Paano pa natin mahihikayat ang mas maraming Pilipino na maglagak ng kanilang pera sa bangko kung patuloy nating tataasan ang bayad sa simpleng pagwi-withdraw ng kanilang pera sa bangko?” he said.

The looming increase on ATM fees stemmed from the BSP’s lifting of a six-year moratorium in July 2019.

Earlier, the BSP asked banks to charge “reasonable and market-based” rates for transactions on ATMs.

READ: Keep ATM fees reasonable, BSP tells banks

Meanwhille, a lawmaker is pushing to have a House inquiry on the ATM fee increase.

Makati City 2nd District Rep. Luis Campos Jr. said that before the moratorium was imposed in 2013, banks had wanted to increase ATM charges by as much as 50 percent.

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 earlier said in a statement. /jpv

READ: Lawmaker seeks inquiry into looming ATM fee hike