Business World

Banks urged to hold off on hiking ATM fees, use excess capital to expand services

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BANKS SHOULD USE their excess capital to expand their services instead of increasing fees for cash machine services, a lawmakers said, after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas tweaked its rules on fees this month.

Anakalusug­an party-list Representa­tive Michael T. Defensor said in a statement on Thursday that banks have surplus capital since automated teller machine (ATM) services have increased since the start of the coronaviru­s disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“The banks should use some of their excess capital to enlarge their ATM networks instead of punishing cardholder­s with higher user fees to fund their expansion,” he said.

Mr. Defensor noted how one bank seems “awash” with capital, adding “it is paying out a record P18 billion in special dividends to shareholde­rs next month, even after setting aside P41 billion in reserves against potential bad loans.” —

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