News

Vietnamese banks want on-us transactions fees

April 11, 2012

In its quest to achieve ATM profitability, the Vietnam Bank Card Association will ask the State Bank of Vietnam for permission to collect fees on ATM on-us transactions, said an article at vietnamnet.vn.

The planned request reflects an ongoing dilemma for Vietnamese banks that have found themselves in a money-losing position with their ATM networks. The Vietnamese have yet to acquire the habit of making purchases with their debit cards, preferring instead to withdraw cash to make purchases.

As a result, banks lose out on transaction income while costs for ATM operation continue to rise. To make matters worse, the FIs are required to keep at least VND400 million ($19,208) on hand at every ATM — which means additional interest lost — even after the monthly payday rush, the vietnam.net article said.

But the plan to collect fees from on-us ATM transactions could simply drive bank customers back to teller windows — or cause them to withdraw their paycheck in a lump sum, the article said. “The fee of VND3,300 (16 cents) for each transaction is trivial to some people," a worker named Ha told vietnam.net "but for low-income workers like us, it is more expensive than buying an egg,” said Ha.

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