Banks collectively raise online banking transfer fees, Agricultural Bank raises prices 10-fold

After the "ATM incident" over bank service fee collection, it recently emerged that the Agricultural Bank had raised its online banking transfer fees to 10 times the original price without prior notice on its website. Yesterday, an industry insider sent this newspaper a 2006 fee schedule for over-the-counter transfers at various banks, and after comparing it with current service prices and making inquiries, it was found that many banks had substantially raised the relevant fees. "In the future, when calculating inflation
when looking at the stock movements of related companies, bank service fees will also have to be factored in."

Reporter Zhao Zhenyan, intern Wang Qi

Previously, a 4,000 yuan interbank same-city online banking transfer cost only 2 yuan. Since April, this fee at the Agricultural Bank of China has risen to 20 yuan, a 10-fold increase.

The media only focused heavily on the online banking fee increase in the past few days, roughly 4 months after the price rise took effect. Without heated discussion among netizens and without a rise in complaints, this kind of invisible price increase would have remained dormant for a long time.

Agricultural Bank telephone customer service staff confirmed yesterday that the online banking fee for same-bank transfers to other locations was adjusted to 0.5%, with a minimum charge of 1 yuan and a maximum of 20 yuan; same-city interbank transfers are charged a 0.4% fee, with a minimum of 1 yuan and a maximum of 35 yuan.

Before the bank adjusted its fees in March this year, the fee for individual same-city interbank transfers was: 2 yuan per transaction for amounts under 5,000 yuan, 3 yuan for 5,000 to 50,000 yuan, 5 yuan for 50,000 to 100,000 yuan, and 8 yuan for amounts above 100,000 yuan.

Now, the era of cheap fees is over. And the news of such a price increase did not come from the banks themselves; users only suddenly discovered that "prices have gone up" through trial and error in practice.

Telephone customer service always treats those with doubts in a kind and relaxed manner: "The Agricultural Bank's webpage has a column for electronic banking fee standards with detailed fee information. And before every transfer, information about the relevant fee standards pops up."

"Changes to fee standards are publicly posted at each branch 10 working days in advance, but no timely announcement was made on the Agricultural Bank's website, nor was relevant information sent to customers." the customer service representative replied.

Regarding a series of questions such as how much the Agricultural Bank raised its online banking fees, whether it gave notice, why so few people knew, and why the prices were raised, a relevant person at the Agricultural Bank said "I have no information, I don't know."

After leaping to become a listed bank, the online banking fees of the four major state-owned banks also began to converge.

China Construction Bank charges 0.25% of the total transaction amount for same-bank online banking transfers to other locations, with a cap of 25 yuan.

The same fee at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is a minimum of 1.8 yuan and a maximum of 45 yuan, charged at 0.9.

At Bank of China, transfers of 10,000 to 100,000 yuan cost 10 yuan per transaction. This is the online banking fee for same-bank transfers to other locations.

For those accustomed to going to the counter, or those unfamiliar with or unwilling to use online banking, which still carries a certain risk, the same transaction costs even more. Apart from customer queuing and transportation costs, banks will also charge higher fees than for online banking. Generally speaking, the fee for the same transaction at the counter is double that of online banking.

Counter transfers also increased

China Merchants Bank originally charged no fee for same-city interbank counter transfers, but now charges 1 yuan per transaction. Interbank transfers to other locations were previously 1% of the transaction amount, with a minimum of 10 yuan and a maximum of 50 yuan. Now 200 yuan and 50 cents has become the maximum cap, a 4-fold increase. This means that as the remittance amount increases, the fee charged is higher.