2024-04-11 17:50:53
According to Viliaus, until now 0.8% was charged for such a service. tax, now reaching 2 percent.
“For example, if you withdraw 1,000 euros, the fee used to be 8 euros. And that’s a lot. But today, after withdrawing 1000 euros, I was “pleasantly” surprised. The fee is 20 euros. 20 euros?!” – the man couldn’t believe it.
He immediately called the bank, but he only heard the voice of a confused consultant – the employee confirmed that the service rates were increased on Tuesday, but he did not know the reason for such a decision.
Vilius does not hide that such appetite of the bank caused him great surprise. Considering the banks’ profits, the decision to raise service prices is dishonorable, to say the least.
“I say, maybe you can come up with 100 euros for cashing out next week?” the man thought.
This fee is not for all customers
At that time, the representative of SEB bank Ieva Dauguvietytė-Daskevičienė confirmed that the bank’s new rates really came into effect on April 9 of this year – customers were informed about this in January.
It turns out that 2 percent the target rate is applied in cases where a customer who does not use a bank service plan wants to withdraw cash with a debit card. At that time, the customer who chose the appropriate service plan could withdraw the amount mentioned by Viliaus for free.
“The pricing of bank services continues to be structured in such a way that, as before, it would be more useful and convenient for customers to use daily banking services by choosing one of the service plans provided by the bank – this is cheaper than using separate bank services”, I. Dauguvietytė-Daskevičienė based the decision .
It is added that customers can withdraw cash for free at the cash desks of certain retail chains. However, after a closer look at the conditions of such a service, it becomes clear that this choice would cost the customer at least 5 euros.
“Money withdrawn in retail chains is not included in the monthly cash withdrawal limit of the selected service plan. This means that a person does not have to pay for the money that is cashed out in this way, and he can cash out as much as he wants per month for free.
The only condition is that you must buy goods with a card for at least 5 euros and pay with a SEB bank card. During one purchase, you can cash out up to 100 euros, the number of purchases is not limited,” said the representative of the bank.
Customers have another choice?
Commenting on such a situation, the Bank of Lithuania (LB), which oversees financial institutions, said that banks formulate their service pricing and set service rates individually.
“They must notify customers of such changes 60 calendar days before the new service rates come into force, so that customers can make a decision whether to accept the changes in the terms of payment services or choose another payment service provider,” said the Market Infrastructure Policy Division of the Market Infrastructure Department manager Tomas Karpavičius.
It is also stated that residents can decide not only to pay for the services separately, but also choose to pay a certain monthly commission for the basket of payment services.
“A certain amount of cash withdrawal from an ATM is usually included in the basket, there is no need to pay extra for it”, commented T.Karpavičius.
And if the offers provided by the banks are not acceptable to the user, he can choose the adjustable basket of the main payment account service.
“This basket must be provided by banks and credit unions if they provide payment services included in the basket at a price no higher than 1.47 euros, for poor residents – 0.73 euros per month,” added the LB representative.
This is price discrimination
However, Algirdas Bartkus, an economist and associate professor of Vilnius University, calls such a situation price discrimination.
“Price discrimination, despite the poor sounding of this phrase, is not always a bad thing. If the service provider offers its service at a lower than usual price, then such price discrimination can have positive effects on society as a whole, because it gives the opportunity to purchase the offered service to those persons who would not buy it at the standard price”, explained A. Bartkus.
At that time, such price discrimination, which is not based on the granting of a discount, but on different prices applied to different groups of customers, is said to have no welfare-enhancing effects.
“Such a phenomenon is characterized by a larger set of bad effects than good ones. Therefore, from the point of view of economic science, this bank pricing cannot be considered a good pricing practice,” the economist shared his insights.
It is added that price discrimination can be justified in cases where a discount is offered from the standard price or when the costs of providing the service differ for different customers.
“Regarding the service of withdrawing money from an ATM, no matter what plans customers use this service, they should pay the same percentage of their withdrawn amount, because the costs of providing this service do not depend on who uses this service”, A. reviewed the situation. Bartkus.
2024-04-11 17:50:53