“This is a bad time for banks to be nickel-and-diming pandemic-weary Filipinos.”
Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. made the remark on Thursday as he asked the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to consider deferring the implementation of a new automated teller machine (ATM) charging model that will cause user fees to spike up to 63 percent starting April.
“Our sense is, it might be more prudent to put off the effectivity of the new ATM charging model to spare Filipinos the aggravation, considering the extremely adverse economic backdrop of mounting joblessness and rising food prices,” Campos, a member of the House committee on banks and financial intermediaries, said in a news statement.
The BSP, through Monetary Board Resolution 1680 dated December 22, 2020, approved the shift from issuer-based to acquirer-based ATM charging model effective, April, 7, 2021.
Under the new charging model, the bank that owns the ATM will be the one charging a fee for each withdrawal or balance inquiry.
At present, the bank that issued the ATM card is charging the fee for each transaction.
Two big banks, acting as owners of over 6,700 ATMs, have already announced on their websites that effective April 7, they will be imposing a fee of P18 per withdrawal transaction on cardholders of other banks, up P7 from the P11 they are currently collecting.
Other banks are expected to follow suit, unless the BSP suspends the implementation of MB Resolution 1680, according to Campos.
“The banks can afford to keep their ATM charges at current levels,” Campos said.
“Right now, the government, including Congress, is working very hard to extend Filipinos every possible relief and spare them from more difficulties,” Campos said.
Campos cited the passage by the House of a bill postponing the implementation of previously scheduled increases in the contributions of Filipinos to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and the Social Security System.
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