|
Maybank should not charge its
account holders for a service charge of 2% for simple and basic
services such as conversion of coins. It's also ridiculous for banks
to charge account holders 50 sen for using the ATM for cash
withdrawals
Press Statement
by Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew
(Petaling Jaya,
Friday): On
Wednesday, the country's top bank Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) announced
that its net profit for the nine months to March rose to RM1.37 billion
ringgit from a year ago on lower loan loss provisions.
It said net interest income for the
nine months dipped to RM2.94 billion from RM2.95 billion a year ago, while
pre-tax profit rose to RM1.95 billion from RM1.88 billion previously.
Ironically, the bank recently started
to impose a service charge on its account holders and other consumers for
conversion of coins, and the quantum is a shocking 2%! When Mr Tee of
Petaling Jaya went to his Maybank branch to exchange for some coins for his
restaurant as usual, he was told to pay RM8 as a fee for coins worth RM400.
This works out to be a hefty 2% as service charge.
This is ridiculous as one must note
that the current interest rate of savings accounts is no more than 4% per
annum. As a matter of fact, any savings account holder of Maybank could only
receive less than RM16 as interest at the end of 12 months if he or she
deposits RM400 with the bank today. But the bank makes RM8 out of the
conversion of coins in less than a minute!
We are very disappointed with Maybank
(and other bank, if any) for such blatant abuse of its account holders'
trust in them. As the top bank with the most number of branches in the
country, surely Maybank can afford a little consideration for the little
people like petty traders and millions of others who have supported this
national flagship bank.
It is also ridiculous for banks to
charge account holders for using the ATM for cash withdrawals from their own
accounts. Recently, a 50 sen transaction fee has been imposed on the fifth
and subsequent withdrawals in each month. Only those who maintain a minimum
balance of RM3, 000 in the account will be exempted from the ruling.
The Ministry of Domestic Trade and
Consumers should look into the matters and direct Maybank and other banks in
Malaysia to drop such easy ways of making money.
(9/5/2003)
* Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, DAP
national publicity secretary
|
http://dapmalaysia.org