MANILA – Some banks will raise their interbank automatic teller machine (ATM) transaction fees on April 7 as they implement “acquirer-based ATM fee charging” mandated by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The hikes also came after the BSP allowed some banks to raise such fees in 2019.
Under the new BSP-approved system, fees for ATM transactions are set by the bank that owns the ATM terminal used, instead of the current system where the bank that issued the card sets the fee charged to the user.
There will be no increase in fees for customers who use the ATMs of their own banks.
Beginning April 7, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) said non-BPI cardholders who use BPI ATMs will be charged P2 per balance inquiry and P18 per cash withdrawal. The fees are higher than the P1.50 balance inquiry and P15 withdrawal fees currently collected from non-BPI cardholders by their respective banks every time they use the Ayala-led bank’s ATMs.
Metrobank also said it will increase its interbank balance inquiry and withdrawal fees to the same amount as BPI’s for other local bank cardholders. But Metrobank said, balance inquiry by the Philippine Savings Bank cardholders will be free of charge while the cash withdrawal rate will be P7.50 only.
Banco De Oro’s website currently puts the interbank ATM balance inquiry fee at P2 and a withdrawal rate at P11. The Development Bank of the Philippines and the United Coconut Planters Bank said they would charge P2 for balance inquiry and P15 for withdrawal.
UnionBank, for its part, said it would charge P2 for balance inquiry and P12 for withdrawal.
The BSP said the new interbank ATM fee system allows ATM owners to directly compete for business with one another by disclosing feed and offering lower charges than other ATMs in the vicinity.
According to the BSP, the amount to be charged to a cardholder should be clearly displayed on the ATM location and on the screen of the ATM terminal. This lets a cardholder choose ATMs that charge lower fees.
“This therefore introduces a competitive discipline that can bring about efficiencies in the Philippine ATM system,” the central bank said in a memorandum on the subject that it issued in July 2019.(ABS-CBN News)
