Reduction in banking fees costing BSP K50 million

Reductions in banking fees charged by Bank South Pacific will have the bank forgoing about K50 million (US$15.3 million) in revenue in its PNG operations this year.

This is part of the bank’s ongoing plan to not pass on the increased cost of business to customers, says BSP chief executive Robin Fleming.

“BSP has not increased its fees for over five years and has in fact reduced many of its fees over that time” he said.

“Our issuing fee for Visa debit cards has been eliminated, whereas previously it was K100 (US$30).

“We have reduced the Eftpos fee for merchants by eliminating the minimum fee of 50t (US$0.15) with the fee now a percentage of the EFTPOS transaction with no minimum fee.

“Cheque collection fees have been reduced.

“ATM and Eftpos fees have been reduced for our customers who have Kundu Standard accounts.

“Around 200,000 customers who had a Kundu Saver have been migrated to the Kundu Standard account recently, have also benefited from lower account fees.

“By the end of this year Bank South Pacific will have foregone fees of almost K50 million annually as a result of all these initiatives.”

Fleming said there were several products that allowed for further reductions and urged customers to enquire with branches on this.

“BSP has made a conscious decision not to pass on any of the increased costs of business over the past five years,” he said.

“We have also made every effort to reduce fees and make our products more attractive.

“Bank South Pacific encourages our customers to talk to our staff about the best product for their needs, and to move to the lowest cost option and to take advantage of our fee free accounts with higher interest rates to ensure their savings are not eroded by bank fees.” . Press Release