Banks to cut fee for non-cash payments, say experts
The banks will be forced to reduce their commission "appetite" to attract customers to make non-cash payments so as not to lose out to their competitors, according to the opinions of bankers published in the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia Ukraine (ZN.UA) weekly.
"The expected increase in the volume of non-cash payments in Ukraine will strengthen competition among banks for customers, which will encourage the banks to reduce commission fees for non-cash payments down to the point of their cancellation," Platinum Bank Director General Greg Krasnov said at a meeting of the Financial Press Club, which was organized by the League for Financial Development with the support of the USAID Financial Sector Development Project (FINREP) and the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia Ukraine weekly.
"In particular, foreign banks don't earn money from this [commission]. They earn money putting their clients' ending stocks in circulation. Accordingly, the possibility of financing the economy is increasing," said the banker.
The director of the retail business department at Erste Bank, Tetiana Nadtochiy, noted that some banks already propose performing non-cash payments free of charge. They make this due to optimizing other costs accompanying the servicing of customers.
"The banks get the possibility to really assess the customer's solvency (observing the movement of funds on the accounts). Accordingly, the price of (credit) resources will be less for the end user," said the expert.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada on September 18 supported, and President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych on October 12 signed, a law on the functioning of payment systems and the development of cashless payments.
