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Philippines: Feds warn against planned market-wide ATM fee hikes

By  |  October 4, 2013

The Philippines’ Department of Justice is reportedly warning the nation’s banks against plans to collectively hike ATM fees, advising the lenders that their actions could be considered cartel-like behavior.

In a statement, Justice Secretary Lelia M. De Lima said that raising consumer awareness of banking operations “will promote greater competition among banks,” and therefore has advised the banks “to ensure that there is no coordinated action on their part to increase their inter-banking charges.”

Several banks, including the nation’s largest three – BDO, Metrobank and BPI – announced last week plans to increase interbank ATM withdrawal fees, which are charged to consumers when withdrawing from a competitor’s ATM. The announcement sparked an order to halt the fee hikes.

Full Content: InterAksyon

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