Vietnam’s banks hesitant to charge new ATM fees

Some Vietnamese banks will not charge fees for every ATM transaction.

While this is allowed by new central bank regulations, the banks fear they may lose customers.

Domestic lenders were granted permission to charge VND1,000 (5 US cents) every time their own cardholders withdraw cash as of March 1. The fee is set to be double one year later, and triple to VND3,000 by 2015. The regulation also allows banks to charge VND100-500 for other services, including transaction printouts.

Ho Chi Minh City’s Dong A Bank, which boasts about six million ATM users, is still determining the appropriate fee to charge users, said a bank official, Duong Ngoc Minh.

He hinted that the fee may be lower than the prescribed rate and may be free for users who conduct only a few transactions each month.

Tran Anh Tuan, general director of Ho Chi Minh City-based Nam A Bank, said his bank will not insist on charging its cardholders the maximum fees allowed by law out of respect for their rights.

The director said he thought most lenders would charge its own clients lower fees for fear of losing their patronage.

Initially, the central bank justified the new fees by saying they would help domestic banks to cover expenditures spent on ATM infrastructure and facilities, but the public quickly objected, saying that banks had already begun profiting from the investment via fees collected for ATM cards and annual membership fees.

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