Zarate wants immediate passage of bill regulating bank fees amid impending hike

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate on Thursday urged the House leadership to fast-track the passage of House Bill 4019, which aims to regulate the fees and charges being imposed by banks.

Zarate's call came after the announcement that inter-bank automated teller machine (ATM) fees are set to increase starting April.

According to Zarate, a review on disclosure requirements to consumers and the actual costs incurred by banks should be made and shown to consumers before an increase on fees will be made.

“Mukhang tataas na naman ang sisingilin mula sa atin sa paggamit ng ATM pero ang mga bangko naman talaga ang kumikita dito mula pa dati, pero, ironically, pera din naman natin ang ginagamit nila sa kanilang negosyo," Zarate said in a statement.

"Dapat talaga ay tignan na agad ito ng Kongreso para makita kung totoo ang sinasabi ng mga bangko, lalo na sa panahong ito ng krisis na pinalala pa ng COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.

HB 4019, which was also introduced by Representatives Ferdinand Gaite and Eufemia Cullamat, "seeks to regulate the rate of transaction fees and charges on automated teller machines by banks and require the posting of a notice of said fees and charges on ATM's screens and monitors prior to the completion of any transaction."

Zarate wants the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to explain the reason behind the impending hike of bank fees and charges.

The BSP had lifted the six-year moratorium on ATM fees in 2019. The Bankers Association of the Philippines had said it supports the acquirer-based ATM fee principle of the BSP, saying that it is "market driven and customer-centered."

However, for Zarate, banks should no longer extract profit from workers as they already earn profits when salaries of workers are being coursed through banks by their employers.

"Why can't the BSP and the banks also make sacrifices just like the millions of Filipinos in these trying times. Pandemic profiteering is truly abhorrent  during this time of crisis," Zarate said. —Anna Felicia Bajo/KBK, GMA News