Bank Negara move lauded

Saturday December 11, 2004

BY FLORENCE A. SAMY

PETALING JAYA: Bank account holders and various groups welcomed the news that Bank Negara would introduce new guidelines requiring banking institutions to offer basic services at minimal cost.

Many expressed unhappiness over the imposition of excessive and sometimes unnecessary service charges by banks.

They felt that banks should instead focus on improving their services and become more customer-friendly.

Document controller Sato Fong, who travels across several states to collect payments, cited an incident where a local bank wanted to charge him RM10 for every RM1,000 when he wanted to make a RM10,000 deposit into his account here from a Terengganu branch.

ôI was so angry that I decided to bring back the money and deposit it in KL.

ôIt's good that Bank Negara wants to introduce the guidelines as they should not let these banks do whatever they want,ö he said here yesterday.

In a statement on Thursday, Bank Negara said the new guidelines would be introduced in February, and would prevent commercial banks from imposing fees and service charges at their whims and fancies.

The guidelines would also provide avenues for consumers to seek redress through complaint units.

System analyst V. Chandrakala, 33, said banks should not charge customers fees for using online banking services.

ôThis online service was free when it was introduced in 2000 but now they are charging customers RM12 per year. That's a lot of money, considering that we are accessing the services on our own without help from bank officials,ö she said.

Hooi Wai Wai, 25, said the national bank should standardise the various service charges imposed by banks.

ôSome have very high charges such as 50 sen per withdrawal at ATM machines after the fourth withdrawal, while others charge for online or inter-bank services,ö she said.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations secretary-general Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah called on the Government to prevent banks from imposing service charges for online transactions.

Atlas Edible Ice (Penang) Sdn Bhd director Frederick Ng said banks should stop practices like imposing a RM2 surcharge for every 100 notes once a customer exceeds 500 notes for a deposit.

ôHow can they impose charges on the deposits? These notes are all legal tender,ö he said.

Accountancy student Ida Othman, 21, however, said she did not mind paying a bit more for online services than be bogged down by the inconvenience of queuing up at a bank.

The Association of Banks Malaysia chairman Dr Rozali Mohd Ali could not be reached for comments.

New guidelines on imposition of bank service charges

Friday December 10, 2004

BY CECIL FUNG

PETALING JAYA: Commercial banks will no longer be allowed to impose fees and service charges at their own discretion when Bank Negara issues a set of guidelines next year.

Under the guidelines to govern the imposition of such charges from Feb 1, banking institutions will be required to offer basic services at minimal cost.

“Details of the guidelines will be announced in due course. Consumer protection is an integral component of a vibrant banking system,” Bank Negara said in a statement yesterday.

The central bank said the guidelines were the result of an extensive study it had carried out recently to ensure that the public had access to banking services at reasonable cost.

“We have also taken a holistic approach in efforts to strengthen consumer protection by providing mechanisms for consumers to seek redress through complaint units established by banking institutions,” it said.

In addition, an enhanced Financial Mediation Bureau would also be operational from January.

The statement added that Bank Negara would also put in place transparency and disclosure requirements that would ensure customers are given adequate and timely information about the features and costs of financial products and services to allow them to make informed decisions.

The statement came just days after Consumers Association of Penang president S.M. Mohamed Idris called for the central bank to take a proactive role to enforce bank propriety.

In his letter published in The Star on Tuesday, Mohamed Idris said banks had gotten creative in finding ways to impose charges.

Citing an example, he said the move by a major bank to begin imposing annual charges for use of its online facilities from this month was ridiculous as this facility was supposed to bring down labour and processing costs.

He said there was “absolutely no justification” for the exorbitant fees charged by the bank, which was also increasing fees for clearing foreign cheques from RM10.15 to RM30.15 per cheque, as pre-tax profits of commercial banks in Malaysia had increased from RM4.5bil in 2001 to RM6.9bil last year.

Maybank should learn from America

Maybank should learn from America
Ming Hoe
Dec 10, 04 4:01pm

Maybank’s decision to impose a fee for its online services is unjustifiable and truly unfair.

The bank should realise that every customer that relies on online and phone banking is one customer less to be attended to by their bank tellers at the walk-in branches.

An increasing number of customers using online and phone banking services will increase the possibillity if the bank to one day have smaller branches (or even none) and of course, fewer employees. In addition to this, every online statement requested is one less paper statement for bank has to print and mail out.

What this means is that by encouraging online and phone banking, the bank will reduce its costs. In the US, ATM access, online banking, phone access and e-billing are all free. Most banks there only charge for ATM use by a non-cleint.

The main factors there for the banks’ progressive stance are, I believe, competent management, creative thinking and competition. I also believe that all three factors are alien to Malaysian banks which result in them mistreating their customers.

One of the ways the American banks were able to lower the costs was to outsource their setup and maintenance of online banking services. It is also common for a number of banks to share the same IT company that maintains their online banking system.

The banks are thus able to lower their costs because the IT company is doing what they do best and concentrate all their effort on the job. Together with competition from other IT companies, the result is higher efficiency, better service for the end user at lower costs for the banks.

BNM : Initiatives to Strengthen Consumer Protection

PEN: 12/04/16 (BN)

Consumer protection is an integral component of a vibrant banking system. In
meeting this objective, Bank Negara Malaysia has completed an extensive
study to ensure that the public has access to banking services at reasonable
costs, and will be issuing guidelines to govern the imposition of fees and
charges by banking institutions. With these guidelines, effective 1 February
2005, banking institutions will be required to offer basic banking services
at minimal costs. Further details will be announced in due course.

In addition, Bank Negara Malaysia has undertaken a holistic approach in
strengthening consumer protection by:

- Providing effective mechanisms for consumers to seek redress. In this
regard, banking institutions have established complaint units to handle
customer grievances. In addition, an enhanced Financial Mediation Bureau
will begin operation in January 2005;

- Putting in place transparency and disclosure requirements that will ensure
customers are given adequate and timely information about the features and
costs of financial products and services to facilitate informed decisions.

While the guidelines on the imposition of fees and charges seek to protect
consumer interest, a balance is made between protecting consumer interest
and providing an environment that promotes innovation and provision of
enhanced services by banking institutions.

Bank Negara Malaysia
09 December 2004

‘Extra charges’: DAP takes case to Bank Negara

‘Extra charges’: DAP takes case to Bank Negara
Claudia Theophilus
Dec 9, 04 6:18pm

A group of DAP parliamentarians led by party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng submitted a memorandum today to Bank Negara Malaysia governor Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz protesting against arbitrary and excessive surcharges imposed by banks on customers.

The protest memo against the central bank’s “inaction and indifference” towards the surcharge and the lack of social responsibility was received by corporate communications director Abu Hassan Alshari Yahaya.

The MPs present were Tan Kok Wai (Cheras), Fong Po Kuan (Batu Gajah), Fong Kui Lun (Bukit Bintang) and Teresa Kok (Seputeh).

Speaking to reporters outside the central bank after the hour-long meeting, Lim said Abu Hassan had generally agreed with the points raised in the memorandum on excessive and unjustified charges being imposed by commercial banks.

“He agreed with some of our points and promised to act on the complaints. He said they will prepare guidelines on standard charges for basic banking services.

“The situation has reached a point where it is ridiculous to pay for depositing or withdrawing our own money from the banks,” he added.

Lim stressed that the protest was against all commercial banks that imposed surcharges on various types of transactions, both conventional and internet banking.

Complaints ignored

He said the central bank had also ignored numerous complaints on banking service charges over the years.

“This is why we need public pressure for the issue to get noticed. The official assured us that this will not be just be lip service. Let’s see what happens after this,” he said, adding that Bank Negara had very lax enforcement despite being the regulator of the country’s banking sector.

“The commercial banks are reaping huge additional profits at the expense of consumers. We want Bank Negara to ensure that no commercial and banking laws are being violated in the process,” he said.

Lim urged Bank Negara to proactively reverse the charges and surcharges to uphold the government’s repeated calls for social responsibility.

He also noted that banks often impose charges and surcharges by fiat or without any prior notice to customers.

“Such arrogance is not just offensive but unfair to consumers who lose out in increased financial cost,” he said, outlining some of the public complaints compiled by the DAP.

“Bank Negara must be alert to inaccurate and unreasonable statements by Maybank, including claiming a 24-hour online banking through Maybank2u.com when it is only available between 6am and midnight,” he added.

Currently, many Maybank2u.com customers are angry over the RM12 access fee for internet banking effective Dec 20 which will be auto-debited from their account, with permission, besides paying other transaction-based service charges.

Both the central bank and Maybank, the country’s largest banking group, have not responded to questions e-mailed by malaysiakini on Tuesday.

The memorandum cited the example of a RM2 service charge imposed by another bank for every additional 100 currency notes of any denomination exceeding the first 300 pieces.

Other examples include a RM20 charge on Savings or Current Accounts that are closed within six months and RM60 for a telephone call to top up an overdrawn current account over and above the RM50 and RM100 late administration fee respectively for the 15 and 45-day periods.

Excessive charges

Quoting from a Southern Bank notice dated Oct 22, Lim said customers are imposed excessive charges on overdrawn accounts, including RM200 for each cheque returned due to insufficient funds, RM200 per represented cheque (charged together with returned cheques) and RM50 for non-collection of cheque books after 30 days.

Besides advising customers to ensure sufficient funds in their banking accounts “to avoid being imposed any penalty charges”, the notice urged them to use the ATM, auto-debit payments and phone banking.

“Certain banks are imposing service charges for current account below a certain balance sum. One charges RM10 monthly for having a daily balance of less than RM1,000. An inactive RM500 current account would be exhausted in four years,” said Lim.

He also criticised Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) chairperson Dr Rozali Mohamed Ali for saying in The Edge last Monday that the association would not advise member banks on pricing matters which was their prerogative.

ABM has 23 members comprising both local and locally-incorporated foreign banks.

Lim said commercial banks’ pre-tax profits rose from RM2.5 billion in 2001 to RM6.4 billion a year later and recorded RM6.9 billion in 2003.

For the third-quarter of this year, he said the profitability of the banking system remained favourable with RM2.8 billion pre-tax profit, an increase of 17 percent compared to RM2.4 billion in the corresponding quarter last year.

“Bank Negara should shed its indifference and disregard of complaints and dissatisfaction of the consumers by removing these excessive charges as ordinary Malaysian should be your primary concern and not the additional profit-making capability of banks,” he added.

Online petition

At press time, an ongoing online petition had registered 15,580 signatures, and still counting, of people who signed as Maybank customers.

When contacted via e-mail, Rizam Zamri, cited on the main page as the author and writer of the petition, said it all boils down to people demonstrating their consumer power.

“A majority of the (Maybank2u.com) users are just like me, an average person, no VIP post, no million-dollar business and always trying to make ends meet...we need a petition in order to be heard.”

He said he was amazed by the momentum that is propelling the online petition which began on Dec 2 and which, by the second day, had collected over 4,000 signatures.

Last week, e-mail requests to six banks for a list of charges for internet banking produced two prompt replies, and both said their internet banking services are currently free.

United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd said its personal online banking is offered free round-the-clock while companies are given a first-year access fee waiver.

RHB Customer Care Centre operations manager Irmawati Osman replied saying that internet banking was free but charges are imposed for inter-bank transactions and foreign telegraphic transfers based on the stipulated sum.

Organise picket outside Maybank

Organise picket outside Maybank
BC Ong
Dec 9, 04 1:51pm

I refer to the letter 'Bank charges: Time for Bank Negara to wake up' by SM Mohamed Idris who is also the president of the Consumers Association of Penang.

I feel that it is quite useless to wait for Bank Negara to act on Maybank imposing a charge for its online services. We, the consumers, should act to show our displeasure over this move. After all, it is our money that the bank is handling.

Therefore, I urge CAP to organise a nationwide peaceful protest in front of all Maybank branches at a specific time and date to impress upon the bank management’s our objection to their move.

Let's pick a date, for example Dec 13 at 1pm. Let's all gather outside Maybank branches with a placard to protest.

I think that will be more effective in getting Maybank to reconsider their wanton imposition of service charges.

Protest Memorandum Against Bank Negara’s Inaction And Indifference Towards The Arbitrary And Excessive Bank Service Charges And Surcharges By Commercial Banks At The Expense Of Consumers And At Variance With Social Corporate Responsibility

---

Protest Memorandum Against Bank Negara
by Lim Guan Eng

---

(Kuala Lumpur, Thursday):

YBhgia Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz,
The Governor,
Bank Negara Malaysia,
Jalan Dato’ Onn,
50480 Kuala Lumpur.

Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato’,

Protest Memorandum Against Bank Negara’s Inaction And Indifference Towards The Arbitrary And Excessive Bank Service Charges And Surcharges By Commercial Banks At The Expense Of Consumers And At Variance With Social Corporate Responsibility

We hereby submit a protest memorandum against Bank Negara’s inaction and indifference towards the arbitrary and excessive bank service charges and surcharges imposed by commercial banks enabling banks to reap additional profits at the expense of the consumer. Bank Negara must proactively reverse these charges and surcharges to uphold the government’s oft-repeated objective of social corporate responsibility.

Oftentimes these surcharges and charges are imposed by fiat and at times without any prior notice given to the bank customers. Such arrogance is not just offensive but unfair to the consumers who lose out in increased financial costs. Amongst the many grouses from consumers we have received from consumers over the past month are:

• Maybank’s decision to impose a subscription fee for its online banking services where users of Maybank2u.com which was launched free on June 2000 is now required to pay a yearly fee of RM 12; online banking request for account statement at RM 10 plus RM1 per page for current account statements; 50 cents per withdrawal at ATM machines after the fourth withdrawal within a month; 50 cents per transaction for bill payments at ATMs; and RM 12 per annum for an unlimited number of bills at other channels;

• Banks requiring service charge for deposits such as Southern Bank’s service charge of RM2 for deposit of every additional 100 pieces of currency notes of any denomination after the first 300 pieces, ie if 500 RM 1 currency notes requires a service charge of RM 4;

• Banks charging RM 20 on Savings or Current Accounts closed within 6 months;

• Banks charging RM 5 on all inter-branch personal cheque encashment where it is silly to be charged for taking out our own money;

• Excessive charges on overdrawn accounts by banks especially Southern Bank charging RM 200 for returned cheques due to insufficient funds and another RM 200 for represented cheques(charged together with returned cheques) and RM 50 for non-collection of cheque books after 30 days;

• Some banks charge of RM 60 for one telephone call to top up your overdrawn current account Apart from penalty interest late administration fee of RM50 & RM100 at 15 & 45 days past due date respectively;

• Certain banks charging service charges for current account below certain balances where one bank is charging RM 10 per month for personal accounts with less than RM 1,000 average daily balances ie an inactive RM 500 current account would be exhausted in 4 years.

The Chairman of the Association of Banks in Malaysia(ABM) Dr Rozali Mohamed Ali had said that ABM would not advise banks on pricing matters as it is their prerogative. Such an attitude is contrary to the government’s oft-repeated call for corporate social responsibility leaving the consumers no choice but to rely on Bank Negara to uphold fairplay and protect consumer interests.

In Bank Negara’s website, the Bank proudly states that it is guided by the principle that it should act only in the economic interest of the nation and without regard to profit as a primary consideration. Therefore Bank Negara has a primary duty to immediately act in the economic interest of ordinary Malaysians and not be a mere bystander and watch banks pad their profits at the expense of consumers.

Lest we forget, commercial banks’ pre-tax profit increased from RM 2.5 billion in 2001, RM 6.4 billion in 2002 and RM 6.9 billion in 2003. For the third quarter 2004, the profitability of the banking system remained favourable with RM 2.8 billion pre-tax profit, an increase of 17% compared to the RM 2.4 billion in the corresponding quarter last year. As the banks can afford to do so, Bank Negara must direct banks to cease burdening their clients before Malaysians lose faith in the banking institution.

Bank Negara should shed its indifference and disregard of the complaints and dissatisfaction of the consumers by removing these excessive charges as ordinary Malaysians should be your primary concern and not the additional profit-making capability of banks. An early reply is appreciated.

(9/12/2004)

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* Lim Guan Eng, DAP Secretary General

Maybank customers should close accounts

Maybank customers should close accounts
Badak Mal
Dec 8, 04 2:38pm

I am astounded that all Maybank customers are making such a hullabaloo over all the charges that Maybank imposes. They should not sign petitions.

They should all band together and close all their accounts with Maybank.

Just imagine: if one customer has RM100 in his account and one million customers closed their accounts, then Maybank would stand to lose RM100 million.

The power is with the consumers. They should use their power to bring the bank to its knees for bullying the Malaysian public.

It's time Malaysian consumers stood up for their rights.

Banks have a right to charge service fees

Banks have a right to charge service fees
Suresh Gnasegarah
Dec 8, 04 2:49pm

I can't help but feel disappointed at the shortsightedness of the letter by Consumer Association of Penang president SM Mohd Idris urging Bank Negara to take action against Malaysian banks for introducing and increasing bank fees on their products.

Firstly, it is the banks’ right to impose any charges that they deem fit on any of their products and services. Businesses must be allowed to charge for whatever they want for their products. This is a very important trait that must be defended in any market economy.

In the case of Maybank's Internet banking system, consumers can opt to stop using the service or move their money to another bank that offers free Internet banking services. Nobody is forcing the RM12 charge down the throats of Maybank2u.com users.

Market forces should be allowed to rule. More often than not, it will rule favourably for the consumer. For example, when Maybank started charging 50 sen for every withdrawal after the forth withdrawal of the month, I moved my money for daily expenditure to another local bank.

Today, I still take out money for my daily expenses without incurring any additional charges. Consumers should be educated to exercise their rights without compromising free market principals.

For example, many consumers I know won't be moving away from Maybank2u, because their services are one of the most comprehensive in the country. The one ringgit monthly charge rakes in profit for Maybank while saving of time and effort for the consumer which many feel is worth thousands more. It is a classic free market relationship.

Businesses have the right to increase their prices even if they are making huge profits. Businesses do not have a moral obligation to anybody but their shareholders. Being in the business of making money is not a crime. Just as Bank Negara doesn't license banks to rip consumers off, it doesn't license consumer associations to chastise legitimate business entities for making a profit.

The only instance at which the CAP should urge regulatory bodies like Bank Negara to act is when our local banks start operating like a cartel. A cartel is when a group of organisations gang up to limit competition and fix prices.

In that instance, consumers will be unfairly burdened. The CAP has highlighted no such cartel within the Malaysian banking system.

Secondly, rather than asking for Bank Negara’s intervention in the bank fees saga, CAP should be lobbying for quicker liberalisation of the banking industry to encourage more competition.

I remember the days when Malaysia Airlines used to say that they wanted to terminate certain domestic routes because local flights were unprofitable. Today, AirAsia has shown us that cheap domestic flights are a profitable reality.

Spurred by competition, Malaysia Airlines, has also been offering various cheap flights through various promotions like their SuperSaver programme. All of this was possible because the government decided to liberalise (although admittedly in a limited form) the airline industry.

Encouraging interference by local authorities will also send the wrong message to the international community. Which investor wouldn't be wary with an ever intervening government in their business models?

This in the long term will be even more detrimental to the average consumer. The biggest driver for championing the rights of consumer shouldn't be suppression of businesses by the government but by the creation of choices.

A farsighted CAP would have seen this.

Banks bottom line fattening at customers’ expense

Banks bottom line fattening at customers’ expense
Wong
Dec 7, 04 2:44pm

I agree with Rachel that Bank Negara Malaysia should step in to review the charges imposed by local commercial banks. The banks keep emphasisng the high cost of computerisation but they have not told us the manpower costs savings, the increased productivity and competitive edge benefits which offset the high cost of computerisation.

Given that banks have been offering Voluntary Separation Schemes and have increased their profitability, perhaps customers can assume that banks are not passing on their lower cost benefits to their customers.

Instead all kinds of service, administration, late and penalty charges are imposed on the hapless customer.

Some of the charges imposed by Banks that I had heard are as follows :

a. Customer's current account overdrawn - bank officer calls you to top up by 10am. Customer tops us the account as instructed. Bank charges RM60 for calling you.

b. Bank's administrative charges for overdue fixed-loan instalment as seen in one bank's letter: ‘WEF July 2002, Term-loan loan late admin fee is revised to RM50 & RM100 at 15 & 45 days past due date respectively.’ There is the additional penalty interest charge on the overdue instalment.

Some banks will not give you any benefit if you pay early on the loan instalment, If you decide to pay three instalments in advance, they put the money in a non-interest bearing account for you and only utilise the money when the instalment falls due. The customer does not get the reduced principal amount for interest calculation.

There are all kinds of charges (justified or otherwise) which are too many to elaborate here. If the high cost of computerisation is the reason, then the banks must compute their manpower cost savings, their increased productivity and competitiveness edge benefit into an equation.

As it is, we do not see the bigger picture except the ever fattening bottom line of banks.

Banks robbing from customers

Banks robbing from customers
Kassim SA
Dec 7, 04 2:46pm

I am pleased to note that many Maybank customers have already written to their bank to express their fury over the bank's recent move to impose a RM12 annual fee for Internet banking.

I am, to say the least, disgusted when banks impose a charge for every extra service they offer customers when such a service is readily available as a by-product of their IT system.

Quite apart from this, bankers now impose a two-day float for inter-bank transfers transacted on Internet banking. Why they need the float and why it has to be two days are beyond me, but what remains a mystery is the cost of funds between the time a transferor's account is debited to that when the transferee's account is credited.

The amount involved is substantial and can even make a difference to the bank's bottom line. Maybe it is time for bankers to visit their bottom line to see how much of it is robbed from customers.

Coming back to the issue of the Internet banking fee, I urge Bank Negara to allow foreign banks operating in Malaysia to offer similar Internet banking so that the Malaysian public can have a better choice in terms of which bank offers the right service in the right manner and at the right price.

Otherwise, Bank Negara would be seen as an accomplice to the local banks who commit, or will eventually commit, this super highway robbery.

Bank charges: Time for Bank Negara to wake up

Bank charges: Time for Bank Negara to wake up
SM Mohamed Idris
Dec 6, 04 3:52pm

We refer to your report Internet banking fee, Maybank customers cry foul.

There are increasing complaints today about the increasingly high bank charges being levied on customers for just about every banking service. Every so often, the Consumers Association of Penang receives complaints from consumers about unreasonable bank charges.

Banks these days are becoming creative in finding ways to impose banking charges. The recent flurry of banking mergers was embarked upon in the proclaimed pursuit of more efficiency. However, efficiency at higher costs is no efficiency at all.

For instance, Malaysia’s biggest bank will this month begin to impose annual charges for use of its online facilities. This is ridiculous when online banking is supposed to bring down labour and processing costs.

What is worse is that the bank’s customers subscribed to the online system when one of its attractions was its no-fee premise. Now that they are in the system, they will be obliged to cough up service charges. All in the name efficiency.

Another example of banking greed is that some banks have begun to charge fees for the direct credit of salaries from an employer’s account into its employees’ accounts.

One bank tells us that the rate is RM10 per employee per transaction. If the employer has 100 employees, RM12,000 will be charged each year just for the bank to push a few computer keys once a month.

The same bank is increasing its fees for clearing foreign cheques from RM10.15 per cheque to RM30.15 per cheque. This will translate into a 200 percent increase in its revenue for clearing foreign cheques. Have foreign cheque-clearing costs suddenly increased by 200 percent?

There is absolutely no justification for such exorbitant fees. The pre-tax profits of commercial banks in Malaysia increased from RM4.5 billion in 2001 to RM6.9 billion in 2003. Fee-based income contributed RM3.2 billion to the commercial banks’ coffers in 2003.

And yet these banks have the temerity to increase fees or introduce new fees on an almost consistent basis.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has to be farsighted and pro-active in this matter. Banks will continue to impose and increase charges ad infinitum until they are stopped. They are, after all, in the money-making business, and recent experience has shown them that BNM does little to stop them from implementing such profiteering schemes.

BNM is the regulatory body for financial institutions in Malaysia. It is empowered to enforce banking propriety by means of statute and by force of its licencing role. We assume that BNM does not license banks for the purpose of ripping off the public.

If BNM is not prepared to wield its authority to protect consumers, than the licencing of banks is rendered meaningless. BNM’s licencing function might as well be rescinded and any Ali, Ah Chong and Ramasamy be allowed to operate a bank.

We trust, however, that BNM has the plight of Malaysian consumers at heart, and will thus do the right thing and step in. Without BNM’s intervention, the banks will not volunteer to stop taking advantage of Malaysia’s defenceless consumers.

The writer is the president of the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP).