[Finance] Lowering interbank transfer fees? FSC decides to maintain the status quo due to 3 factors
bellala 央廣3h ago
The current interbank transfer fee is NT$15. Legislators are concerned about whether it can be further reduced. The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) report indicates that considering Taiwan's fees are already lower than neighboring countries, labor and anti-fraud mechanism costs continue to rise, and financial institutions have already provided many preferential plans for reduced or waived fees; a survey by the financial company shows that about 50% of customers currently enjoy fee-free interbank transactions, and it has been decided to maintain the current fee standard.
The adjustment of interbank transfer fees involves the operations and practical work of financial institutions. The FSC's written report points out that a meeting was held on April 22nd this year to discuss the matter, inviting the Central Bank, the Bankers Association, the Financial Information Service Company, and six financial institutions. A report was submitted based on the meeting discussions and resolutions.
The FSC report states that the interbank transfer fee was originally NT$17 per transaction, reduced to NT$15 in 2012, and since April 1, 2019, a tiered preferential system for small-amount interbank transfers has been implemented. Transfers of NT$500 or less enjoy one free transaction per day. For amounts between NT$501 and NT$1000 (including those exceeding the free transaction limit for amounts under NT$500), the fee is NT$10 per transaction. For amounts over NT$1000, the fee is NT$15 per transaction.
The FSC pointed out that the main conclusions of the discussion meeting on April 22nd were threefold. First, according to the survey by the Financial Information Service Company, Taiwan's interbank transfer fees are already lower than those in neighboring countries. The basic usage fee for transfers in the United States is NT$79 per transaction. Fees vary among Japanese banks, ranging from NT$45 to NT$135 per transaction depending on the transfer amount. Fees also vary among Thai banks, ranging from NT$27 to NT$53 per transaction.
Second, financial institutions currently offer many preferential plans for reduced or waived fees. Banks provide diverse interbank transfer fee preferential plans for salary transfer customers, digital deposit account holders, and vulnerable customers. Furthermore, according to the survey by the Financial Information Service Company, about 50% of customers currently enjoy fee-free interbank transactions, which are absorbed by financial institutions, significantly reducing the proportion of actual fees paid by the public.
The FSC pointed out that, third, in recent years, costs for labor and strengthening cybersecurity and anti-fraud mechanisms have increased. To enhance cybersecurity protection and operational resilience, financial institutions have continuously incurred rising costs for procurement and maintenance of related system software upgrades and system backup mechanisms, leading to an overall increase in operating costs. Consequently, the current costs for banks to handle interbank transfers often exceed the revenue generated from these transfers.
In addition, financial institutions cooperate with the government in promoting various financial anti-fraud measures, such as the gray list notification mechanism for designated transfer accounts (when banks accept customer applications for designated transfer accounts over the counter, the mechanism can immediately request the receiving bank to provide information on whether the account is a warning account, etc., to remind customers to avoid being deceived), the mechanism for displaying the recipient's account name for online banking and ATM transfer transactions, and the facial masking warning function for ATMs. The costs associated with interbank transfers for anti-fraud purposes have also continued to increase.
The FSC stated that, considering all relevant factors, Taiwan's interbank transfer fees are already lower than those in neighboring countries. Coupled with continuous price increases in recent years, rising labor costs, and increasing costs for strengthening cybersecurity and anti-fraud mechanisms, as well as the numerous preferential plans for reduced or waived fees offered by financial institutions, the consensus of the meeting is to maintain the current fee standard. (Editor: Song Wanyuan)
Source Link: https://www.rti.org.tw/news?uid=3&pid=215732
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