THINKING of signing up for internet banking?
Well, be aware that it comes with a cost. You get charged by your respective banks when you use e-banking services.
The Consumer Council of Fiji is advising consumers to scrutinise and compare the set of fees and charges imposed by the major commercial banks offering online banking services.
Our advice follows a check we ran on all six licensed banks operating in the country, which showed that out of the six banks, five banks are offering online banking service.
And, four except for one bank had a set of fees and charges attached with the e-banking service.
These fees and charges were:
* Online transfer transactions fees
* Bill payment fees
* Account history checking fees
Online transfer fees for different banks included a charge of $0.40 for each transfer transaction carried out; a charge of $0.30 for each transfer within bank accounts, and $0.40 for each transfer to other bank accounts, and $2 if transferring up to $100; $5 if transferring between $101-$1000; $10 if transferring $1001 -$10,000 and $15 if transferring more than $10,000.
Three banks had a flat rate of $0.40 for transferring money from one account to another with an external bank. One bank had varying charges for its online customers transferring money from one bank account to another bank account — depending on the amount being transferred.
Another notable feature was that one bank allowed its customers six free electronic transactions in a month — these six transactions included both online transactions as well as ATM transactions. After these six transactions, the customer using online services will have to pay $0.40 for every transaction.
* Online bill payment fees were as follows:
For online bill payment fees, three banks charged $0.40 per payment while another bank charged $0.30 per payment.
* Fees for checking account history
To check account history, two banks incurred a charge of $0.40 while this service was free of charge for customers from two other banks.
* Balance Inquiry
It must be noted that four banks were not charging any fee if consumers conducted “balance enquiry” online.
Meanwhile, one bank was the only bank that offered services free of charge on all its online banking services to its customers because they only dealt with internal transactions.
The bank’s online service did not include bill payments or transferring of money to the external banks.
It is important for consumers, in particular those signing up for the internet banking service to closely look at the plethora of fees or charges in place so that they clearly understand the cost associated with this service.
* This is a regular contribution from the Consumer Council of Fiji. Email: mediaofficer@consumersfiji.org for feedback.
