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Savings account charges have been steadily increasing, making banking - and even saving - an expensive business, Personal Finance's latest review of bank charges shows.
Of the transactions that were included in the review, the biggest increase was 33 percent, which is for a cash withdrawal over the counter at Absa.
If your savings account balance drops below R4 500 a month, you will be charged a hefty R15 for every counter withdrawal you make. Withdrawals are free if you have R4 500 or more in your account. Prior to April this year, you were charged R11.30 for every withdrawal and the balance above which you were not charged a fee was R2 500. Remember that you can avoid this fee by using an automatic teller machine (ATM), where the fees are cheaper.
Cash withdrawals from a Saswitch ATM have risen eight percent if your balance drops below R4 500. The fee is based on a sliding scale - the higher the transaction amount, the higher the fee will be. For instance, if you draw R250 from a Saswitch ATM, you will pay R8.74, but if you draw R1 000, the fee will be R14.48.
Drawing cash from a Saswitch ATM is much higher than if you stick to Absa's own ATM network. In this case, a R250 withdrawal will cost you R3.74 instead of R8.74, and drawing R1 000 will cost R9.13 instead of R14.48. These charges apply to accounts where balances are below R4 500.
Absa has introduced a new fee of R2 for every balance inquiry you make over the counter and the fee for checking your balance at a Saswitch ATM has been increased by 23 percent to R2.50.
Mercantile Bank has increased its cash withdrawal fees from its own ATM network by eight percent. A R250 withdrawal now costs you R3.68 and a R1 000 withdrawal R8.58.
NBS has adjusted its fee for over-the-counter cash withdrawals as well. The fee used to be R5.20 for any amount, but is now based on a sliding scale of R5.20 for the first R1 000 and R0.50 for every R100 to a maximum of R9.40. For transactions up to R1 000 there has been no increase in fees. But for amounts over R1 000, the increase depends on the amount involved. For instance, a R1 500 withdrawal over the counter will now cost you R7.70 - a 48 percent increase.
* Last week Personal Finance published the bank charges on cheque accounts. The fee that Absa charges for debit orders (R4.60) was incorrect.
For external debit orders (debit orders not within the Absa group) from a Silver cheque account (the basic account package), the charge is R2.75 for the first R100, R1.28 for every next R100 up to a maximum of R21.40. Absa changed its fee for external debit orders from a fixed fee to a sliding scale in its annual fee review in April this year. This means the fee varies depending on the amount of the debit order.
Internal debit orders cost R3.80.