Business / Companies
Banks hike ZimSwitch rates by 300%
25 Sep 2015 at 10:57hrs | Views
ZimSwitch uses will feel the pinch in transaction charges as banks have announced an astronomical rise of up to 300%.
Financial institutions agreed on an upward review of the fees to maintain ATM infrastructure, in a move analysts say could boost non-interest income for the sector, while hurting bank customers.
The past two weeks have seen banks increasing service fees for withdrawals made through the ZimSwitch platform to US$4 from US$1, while Visa cardholders' withdrawal fees on other bank's ATMs rose to 2% from 1%.
This move could discourage depositors from using the switching system, even if it boosts banks' non-interest income.
ZimSwitch, the country's sole electronic funds switch, said while it had capped its fee at US$0,30 since the introduction of the multi-currency regime, other components to the charges such as the acquirer fee, a fee charged by the bank which owns the ATM and the issuer fee, charges by the bank which owns the credit card - had been reviewed over the years in line with the operating environment.
Stanbic last week announced that its services charges for withdrawals had shot up to US$4 from US$1, but was quick to say this would have no impact on non-interest income.
"This increase applies to all ZimSwitch member banks for the maintenance of ATM infrastructure. The increase has no impact on income," the bank said in a written response to the Zimbabwe Independent.
Other banks have been in the past week issuing notices to the same effect.
Financial institutions agreed on an upward review of the fees to maintain ATM infrastructure, in a move analysts say could boost non-interest income for the sector, while hurting bank customers.
The past two weeks have seen banks increasing service fees for withdrawals made through the ZimSwitch platform to US$4 from US$1, while Visa cardholders' withdrawal fees on other bank's ATMs rose to 2% from 1%.
This move could discourage depositors from using the switching system, even if it boosts banks' non-interest income.
ZimSwitch, the country's sole electronic funds switch, said while it had capped its fee at US$0,30 since the introduction of the multi-currency regime, other components to the charges such as the acquirer fee, a fee charged by the bank which owns the ATM and the issuer fee, charges by the bank which owns the credit card - had been reviewed over the years in line with the operating environment.
Stanbic last week announced that its services charges for withdrawals had shot up to US$4 from US$1, but was quick to say this would have no impact on non-interest income.
"This increase applies to all ZimSwitch member banks for the maintenance of ATM infrastructure. The increase has no impact on income," the bank said in a written response to the Zimbabwe Independent.
Other banks have been in the past week issuing notices to the same effect.
Source - Zimbabwe Independent
