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Bank charges have once again escalated - in some instances by up to 60 percent - the latest review on the charges of the big banks shows.
Personal Finance compares the costs of the most common transactions among the major banks twice a year to help consumers keep tabs on charges and enable you to judge whether you are getting a good deal or not. You need to remember that bank charges are negotiable, but if you do not ask, it is unlikely your bank will offer to lower your charges.
The survey compares the prices of banks six months ago to what they are today. The last survey took place in October and November 2000.
Banks implement annual increases at different times of the year and while some banks appear not to have increased their charges at all, it may simply be that these banks have not increased their charges in the last six months. From time to time, banks adjust particular transactions and do not necessarily wait for their annual review of charges.
The highest increase on any particular transaction was on statements drawn over the counter at Standard Bank. Whereas a statement used to cost you R2.50, you now have to fork out R4 - an increase of 60 percent. Standard Bank has also upped its monthly service fees by R5, or 25 percent, to R25 a month.
Absa has implemented the highest increases across the following transactions: Inter-account transfers have gone up by 38 percent, cash withdrawals over the counter by 33 percent, while monthly service fees now cost 28 percent more.
If you want to transfer money between accounts as an Absa customer - either at the same bank or between banks - you are now charged R2.75 for the first R100 and R1.28 for every additional R100 up to a maximum of R21.40.
This works out to R5.31 on an amount of R250 and R7.87 on R500. The maximum fee of R21.40 kicks in for transactions from R1 550. Thereafter, you will pay R21.40 regardless of how much money is involved in the transaction.
Cash withdrawls over the counter at Absa have increased by 33 percent to R15 if your account balance is below R4 500. There are two ways to avoid this: You can either maintain a balance of R4 500 in your account or you can use Absa's own ATM network, which is cheaper - for instance, a R250 cash withdrawal will cost you R2.74 instead of R15.
Absa's monthly service fees have gone up from R14 to R18 a month - an increase of 28 percent. You pay monthly service fees even if you do not make any transactions during the month.
Standard Bank has upped its fee for a statement you request over the counter by 60 percent. A statement from its own ATM network costs 17 percent more - but costs R1.75 compared to the R4 over-the-counter fee.
Standard's stop and internal debit orders as well as inter-account transfers are up by 10 percent.
Mercantile increased its cheque clearance fee by 56 percent and has increased its cash withdrawals from an ATM which is not part of the bank's own network by 19 percent.
If you want to get special clearance on a cheque N for which there is normally a seven-day waiting period before you can draw the funds - you now have to pay R35 instead of R22. You will also have to fork out 19 percent more for cash withdrawls from an ATM that is not part of the Mercantile network.
Many of the increases imposed by banks are for transactions which you can avoid. If you want to keep your bank costs in check, you must always keep in mind the different charges. A few rands here and there all add up to a substantial sum at the end of the month.
Helpful tips
* It is generally cheaper to do transactions at your bank's own ATM network. You should avoid using the network of another bank and also avoid transacting over the counter inside a branch whenever possible.
* If you maintain a certain balance in your account, you qualify for free transactions at some banks. The rebate level at Absa is R4 500, at BoE R3 000, at Mercantile R5 000 and at Standard Bank R5 000. Rebates are not available from FNB, Nedbank or Permanent Bank.
BANKMONITOR
The research on bank charges is prepared for Personal Finance by Netchoice - an independent provider of comparative information on bank charges as well as on other financial products such as short-term insurance and life assurance. For a comprehensive listing of charges across a wide range of banks, visit the website at www.bankmonitor.co.za
Netchoice offers a full A to Z information service on banks so that consumers can compare services and charges before choosing particular products or services. The information is updated every two weeks. You can also get click-through online access to the financial institution you select as well as various online calculators, such as a home loan calculator.