New regs to target bank charges
- Source: Global Times
- [08:41 July 30 2010]
- Comments
A man walks out of a Bank of Communications branch in Jing'an district. Photo: Cai Xianmin
By Zhou Mi
Shanghai banks have no plans to raise inter-bank cash withdrawal fees following the central government's announcement this week that new regulations governing commercial bank charges are being drafted.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced on Wednesday that it is drafting new regulations to replace the current ones on commercial bank management, which will urge banks not to anger customers by levying more charges on everyday services.
The move has been seen as a response to coverage in the Chinese media over the past week of an increase in the amount banks in Guangdong Province charge customers who make withdrawals from banks other than their own.
Banks in Shanghai told the Global Times they have no plans to follow suit. "We have received no notice from our headquarters about raising fees," Huang Kan, press officer from the Shanghai branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said Thursday.
The inter-bank withdrawal fee in the city is 2 yuan ($0.3) per transaction.
Information desk staff from Shanghai branches of China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of Communications and Bank of China all confirmed with the Global Times Thursday that they had received no notice of a change in fees from their respective headquarters.
On July 1, Guangdong Development Bank followed the move by some other banks in Guangdong Province to double inter-bank withdrawal fees from 2 yuan ($0.3) to 4 yuan ($0.6), without giving proper notice to customers. The resulting media coverage revealed that Chinese banks in different cities and provinces have started charging for more services or increased existing charges without properly informing their customers.
An increasing range of Shanghai banks have started charging clients for the printing of detailed account statements.
"I didn't know that many banks in Shanghai charge to print statements," a Shanghai bank customer surnamed Li told the Global Times Thursday. "I think it is ridiculous and unreasonable. The charges should be included in the annual management fees we pay."
Since August 2008, the Shanghai branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has charged between 10 yuan ($1.48) and 50 yuan ($7.38) to print detailed account statements, depending on the length of time the statements cover. The Shanghai branches of China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China followed in December 2009 and April 2010 respectively. The Shanghai branch of Bank of Communications plans to introduce similar charges in November this year.
"Changes in the charges without asking for clients' agreement in advance breaks the spirit of the contract between banks and their customers," Shi Lei, professor of economics at Fudan University, told the Global Times Thursday.
He added that banks should find other means of generating profit than charging more fees for basic services.
