Colmenares to banks: Slash ATM, online transaction fees

Billy Begas

Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares on Thursday called on banks and other online payment channels to reduce their exorbitant ATM and online transaction fees amid the health pandemic.

Colmenares said consumers, who are practically forced by the pandemic to pay online, find themselves burdened with exorbitant fees from P15 to as high as P50 per transaction.

The interbank ATM withdrawal fees also increased from P10-P15 to P10-18 per transaction.

Citing data from the Philippine Payment and Settlement System, Colmenares said that the second quarter of 2021 a total of 4,375 interbank transactions worth P432.56 billion passed through PESONet while 8,428 transactions worth P195.85 billion passed through InstaPay.

Compared to the same period last year, the value of PESONet transactions increased by 40.98% while that of InstaPay increased by 55.38%.

Colmenares said that with the dramatic increase in number of transactions, the fees should be decreased.

He also appealed to Congress to pass House Bill 4019 filed by Bayan Muna representatives in 2019 seeking to put a cap on interbank ATM transaction at P5, including bank transactions using G-cash, PayMaya and other payment channels.

“The same principle should be applied to fees charged by money remittance outfits especially at this time when every peso counts for our people,” Colmenares said.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)