A Kedah-based consumer group has described the RM1 fee on automated teller machine (ATM) transactions as burdensome to the public, citing it as ‘profiteering’ as banks continue to earn millions in profit, according to an NST report that cited Utusan Malaysia's report.
President of Kedah Consumers Association, Mohd Yusrizal Yusoff, said that such a fee has no clear benefits to millions of users and leaves them feeling exploited.
This was a renewed push against the fee. During COVID-19, there was a 20-month waiver of the RM1 withdrawal fees for interbank as a measure to help the masses in the face of financial difficulties. The public was unfavourable when banks and financial institutions reimposed the fee on Feb 1 2022.
It comes following a report that Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet), the company that owns the Malaysian Electronic Payments System (MEPS) and imposes an RM1.00 fee for out-of-network ATM withdrawals, is raking in millions of ringgit in profit.
“PayNet was reported to have retained an accumulative profit from previous years amounting to RM1.43 billion and owns assets of RM2.1 billion. It is grossly unfair that the low-income B40 and M40 groups pay this toll,” said J. Solomon, general secretary of the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE).
PayNet is owned by various stakeholders, primarily Bank Negara Malaysia and several major Malaysian financial institutions. The organization does not distribute dividends to its shareholders; instead, any surplus profits are reinvested to enhance the resilience and accessibility of Malaysia’s financial infrastructure.
However, questions arise about its accumulated profit of RM1.43 billion. Why does it accumulate that much when it should be invested to build more ATMs in rural areas?
According to the Malaysian Trade Union Congress, the fee accumulates to RM60 annually, which is a significant amount for bottom-income earners.
Facebook user Jeremiah Andre Mak said that the fee should be abolished since no one is taking out cash other than those without access to internet banking.
“Already they have so little, and yet…, in a nutshell, taking more from them with their already limited means and funds is downright exploitation,” he said.
Another user, Melvin Tan, said that the people had no choice but to keep their money in banks.
“They have the control. And also that’s the reason why they had so much resistance towards cryptocurrencies due to its decentralized nature. They don’t wanna lose control,” he added.
But Suhaimi Fariz pointed to the operating cost of ATMs that allow money withdrawal from other banks.
"So who's going to pay for the network maintenance costs that allows you to withdraw money from other banks' ATM? The banks certainly won't want to. At the very least, ask for reduced fee should be better instead of asking for free."
Malaysians are not the only ones disgruntled at the fee. Earlier this month, Australia's largest bank, Commonwealth Bank, faced backlash over a new $3 fee for customers withdrawing their own money.
The change, described by Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones as the "worst Christmas present imaginable," will take effect on January 6.
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