Various vested parties are calling upon banks to absorb the RM1 charge for each interbank withdrawal instead of burdening bank customers to pay owing to the fact that these banking institutions are reaping huge profits.

They point out that the nation’s top four banks in 2023, Maybank, whose net profit grew by 17.5 percent to RM9.35 billion, CIMB increased by 28.3 percent to RM6.98 billion, Public Bank rose by 9 percent to RM6.6 billion and RHB Bank 4.8 percent to RM2.81 billion

Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Payment Statistics show Malaysians use ATMs twice a month on average and assuming all transactions are interbank cash withdrawals, each individual would be charged RM24 per year.

Although it is only RM1 per withdrawal, the Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca) points out the net profits of banks are positive and imposing the withdrawal fee is unfair although it is only a small amount.

Fomca also stated that consumers have complained to them that banks already generate a significant amount of revenue through various means such as interest rates, loan repayments and service charges which makes the withdrawal fee excessive.

Others contend that while there are costs involved in IT and the security infrastructure such as daily accounts of reconciliation between banks and BNM, it is grossly unfair to dump these expenses on consumers.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE