TOKYO -- Japan's Fair Trade Commission is investigating the nation's top four banks to see if they colluded to level new charges for using ATMs on Saturdays, according to a report in Asahi Shimbun.
FTC Chairman Kazuhiko Takeshima told the Lower House Budget Committee on Feb. 24 that the commission has begun hearings with the banks and the Japanese Bankers Association. The commission is trying to determine if the banks violated the Anti-Monopoly Law.
(See related story Japanese authorities question banks' decisions to add ATM fees)
The FTC has asked the banking association and the four banks -- UFJ Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mizuho Bank -- to submit documents on the new fees by the end of the week.
All four banks charge or plan to charge 105 yen, in principle, to use ATMs on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the same as on Sundays and national holidays during those hours. Previously, ATM use was free on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
"If we find out the banks talked about (making charges the same), we intend to deal with that strictly,' Takeshima said. At the same committee meeting, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi scolded the banks for their complacency.
"There are many firms that manage to make profits while cutting, not hiking, prices,' Koizumi said. "I wonder why there aren't managers who can think that way at financial institutions. There are many points on which banks have been lacking in effort.'
Service fees for daytime ATM use on Saturday were introduced by UFJ in December and Tokyo-Mitsubishi on Feb. 15.
Sumitomo Mitsui plans to levy the charge starting Saturday, and Mizuho in the first half of the next fiscal year, which starts April 1.
