BDO imposes P2 fee on cash card withdrawals
By: Victor C. Agustin
August 20, 2012 2:55 PM
Starting September 1, it will cost a BDO cash card holder P2 every time
he/she withdraws his/her own money from any BDO terminal.
The fee does NOT apply to every BDO depositor's ATM transaction, as
Cocktales had mistakenly reported earlier. Cocktales regrets the error,
and apologizes to BDO and its depositors for the confusion.
The new fee advisory was being flashed on the bank's 1,596 ATM-network
as each terminal dispensed wads of cash for the duration of the four-day
weekend.
BDO issued a quick clarification after Cocktales posted earlier that the
P2-fee also covered ATM withdrawals by regular BDO account holders.
"The P2-fee will only be effective on withdrawals of clients using Cash
Cards (or BDO pre-paid electronic debit cards), similar to what other
industry players are implementing," said Jaime Nasol, head of BDO's cash
management services.
"This is to partially recover our cost on cash handling," Nasol added.
Nasol said BDO, like any other local bank, still exempts its own account
holders from any ATM fee so long as the withdrawal is made from the
depositor's own bank ATM network.
But withdrawals made on other bank's ATMs are hit with P10-11 fee for
every transaction.
Individual banks do not normally publish their depositor base or the
number of transactions that their own home networks process each day.
But a rare glimpse of the magnitude of the potential windfall from such
automated transactions may be gleaned from a year-end account by
BancNet, the largest of the three ATM consortiums in the country. (BDO
happens to be a Megalink member.)
BancNet chief operating officer Aristeo Zafra Jr. said a record 2.282
million "switched" transactions was recorded on the BancNet network last
December 15.
Switched transactions, as defined by BancNet, are mostly withdrawals and
balance inquiries done on ATMs other than the ATMs of the cardholder's
bank. These are done not only by the consortium's own cardholders but
also by cardholders of other networks such as Megalink and BPI-dominated
ExpressNet.
December 15 happened to be payday for government offices and most
private companies. It was also the same day, BancNet said, when most
Christmas bonuses were distributed and credited into employee bank accounts.
"Withdrawals usually peak on the payday before Christmas on account of
the fact that majority of ATM accounts are payroll accounts," Zafra said.
The volume on the Friday before Christmas, December 23 came very close
to December 15, with 2.278 million switched transactions, followed by
December 29, the payday before the New Year weekend which posted 2.083
million switched transactions.
BancNet said it had over 12 million ATM cardholders and 5,700 ATMs at
end-2011, comprising 37.4 percent and 50 percent, respectively, of all
cardholders and ATMs in the country.
BDO so far has the most generous ceiling for ATM withdrawals for its own
depositors, allowing up to P50,000 cash withdrawal a day at a maximum
P25,000 for every ATM transaction.
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