The central bank has defended a decision by commercial banks to
charge customers for taking money out of automatic telling machines
(ATMs) belonging to outlets that are not of the card issuers.
"The charge conforms with current policies and regulations," a
People's Bank of China spokesman said Monday via its website.
He
cited a regulation promulgated last year that allowed banks to make
their own decision about the fee.
But he stressed the regulation also stated that the charge for each
transaction should not be more than 2 yuan (24 US cents).
The central bank's announcement about the fee was triggered by a
public debate over the legitimacy of the charge.
The central bank spokesman said reasonable charges for services on
ATMs would encourage customers to use banking cards more often to
buy items as there was no surcharge for the transaction.
This in turn would help the banks reduce their costs by cutting the
number of small-amount cash withdrawals.
The charge would also help banks increase their input in the
development of their ATM system, the spokesman said.
Since June, officials with the central bank have commented on
similar issues, such as the introduction of charges on existing
services, which have divided the banks and their customers.
Two commercial banks in Guangdong set a threshold balance of 2,000
yuan (US$240) for their customers in May.
An
official with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
said at the time it planned to introduce fees to customers with a
balance of less than 100 yuan (US$12).
The actions of both Guangdong banks and the push by the ICBC
sparked furious reactions from the public, which accused them of
discriminating against people on low incomes.
The central bank was quick to declare that charging customers for
the amount of money they had in their accounts was against the
Commercial Bank Law.
It
was enough to stop the Guangdong-based banks, and the central bank
then said it would work out a fee for banks' intermediary
services.
That too prompted discussion and constant queries from the
media.
The fee has not yet been introduced.
(China
Daily August 13, 2002)
