Lowering the handling fees for ATM inter-bank cash withdrawal, bank card swiping, etc.——
Financial fee reduction and profit sharing renewed efforts
Recently, the six state-owned banks of ICBC, Agricultural Bank, Construction Bank, Bank of China, Postal Savings Bank of China, and Bank of Communications have all issued announcements to lower the cross-bank cash withdrawal fees of automatic teller machines (ATM).
According to incomplete statistics, more than 20 banks, including the six major banks, have announced plans to lower ATM inter-bank cash withdrawal fees.
After the financial system gave away 1.5 trillion yuan in profits to the real economy last year, the financial system once again sent a "gift package" of fee reduction and profit sharing.
A series of fee reduction measures, including payment fee and ATM inter-bank cash withdrawal fee, have been introduced. What benefits will the real economy bring to the real economy if the financial fee reduction and profit sharing work again?
ATM inter-bank cash withdrawal and fee reduction
"From July 25th, we will be able to enjoy the benefits of lower ATM inter-bank cash withdrawal fees." Guo Wuping, director of the Consumer Protection Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, recently announced the good news.
Judging from the current plans announced by banks, the strengths and methods of fee reductions vary among banks.
For example, the Bank of China made it clear in its announcement that starting from July 25, inter-bank intra-city and inter-bank ATM cash withdrawal will be temporarily exempted from handling fees, and at the same time, the inter-bank intra-city and inter-bank ATM cash withdrawal fees will be reduced to a maximum of 3.5 yuan per transaction.
Some banks charge only when the amount exceeds a certain amount.
If China Guangfa Bank makes it clear, the first 3 transactions of inter-bank ATM withdrawals will be exempted from handling fees each month, and the fourth transaction will be charged at 3.5 yuan per transaction.
Some banks have lowered their fees by a larger margin.
For example, Hua Xia Bank, Zheshang Bank, Suzhou Bank, Qingdao Rural Commercial Bank, etc., lowered the domestic ATM inter-bank cash withdrawal fee to 2 yuan per transaction.
This time, many banks lowered the handling fee for ATM inter-bank cash withdrawal, which stemmed from a proposal.
Recently, a proposal jointly issued by the China Banking Association and the China Payment and Settlement Association proposes to lower the standard for intra-city ATM cross-bank cash withdrawal to no more than 3.5 yuan per transaction; cancel the change fee charged by a certain percentage of the withdrawal amount in the inter-city cross-bank cash withdrawal fee , The fixed fee is consistent with the same city business standard.
Among them, the larger drop was the handling fees for cross-bank ATM cash withdrawals.
After the implementation of this procedure, the fee for inter-bank ATM withdrawal in the same city has dropped by more than 10%, and the fee for inter-bank ATM withdrawal in different places has dropped by more than 80%.
According to preliminary calculations, it is estimated that the scale of fee reduction and profit distribution is about 4 billion yuan per year.
Why lower the ATM inter-bank cash withdrawal fee?
According to statistics, my country's inter-provincial and intra-provincial floating population reaches 376 million, and the population of 60 years and over is 264 million.
Guo Wuping said that these two characteristics are very important.
Perhaps everyone intuitively believes that smart phones are now used more and ATM cross-bank cash withdrawals are less.
"In fact, it's quite a lot." Guo Wuping said that the migrant population needs to withdraw cash from other places. In addition, older people use smart phones less and use ATMs to withdraw cash more across banks.
"Banks need to make some system adjustments, so there is a transitional period for lower handling fees." Guo Wuping said that from the bank's perspective, with the advancement of technology in recent years, coupled with the optimization of internal processes, banks have a certain degree of The basis of fee reduction and profit reduction.
"We have also considered that the rate of reduction should be moderate, not only to benefit the people, but also to ensure that the banking business is sustainable and the quality of service is not reduced." Guo Wuping said.
A number of measures continue to land
In the near future, more real-money-like measures have been implemented in terms of fee reduction and profit sharing.
Through on-site visits and questionnaire surveys, the central bank conducted research on nearly 50,000 companies across the country in the early stage.
Bank account service charges, RMB transfer and remittance fees, bill business fees, bank card swiping fees... In response to these basic services with high demand for fee reduction and high frequency of use, 12 articles have been launched to reduce payments by small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households. Handling fee measures, focusing on basic payment services with high demand for fee reduction and high frequency of use.
After the introduction of the policy, major state-owned banks, major payment institutions, and clearing institutions have voiced their voices, stating that they will strictly implement fee reduction notices and actively respond to fee reduction initiatives, forming a good atmosphere for fee reduction and profit transfer.
According to statistics, after all the fee reduction measures are implemented, it is estimated that the annual fee expenditure will be reduced by about 24 billion yuan.
Among them, more than 16 billion yuan has benefited small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households.
“Market entities such as small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households have attracted a large number of jobs, and contain huge innovation and entrepreneurial activities. By further reducing payment fees, they can reduce their capital circulation costs, effectively support market entities’ relief development, and stimulate the market. Vitality.” Fan Yifei, vice governor of the People's Bank of China, said that the main body of the fee reduction involves commercial banks, payment institutions, and clearing institutions. The cost-side charges of card issuing banks and clearing institutions will be reduced simultaneously, and the entire industry chain will jointly bear the responsibility for fee reduction.
Next, how to promote the continuous play of policy dividends?
Guo Wuping believes that continuing to guide the banking industry to reduce fees and make profits requires increased supervision and inspection.
Since 2019, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission system has carried out multiple inspections on corporate fees and clean up bank charges, and the banking industry has voluntarily refunded 2.4 billion yuan.
Fee reduction and profit sharing not only involve the banking industry, but also involve multiple market players.
Data show that in 2020, the banking industry will cut fees and benefit by 360 billion yuan, an increase of 40% over 2019.
Guo Wuping said that there is currently a problem of multiple market entities charging fees. For example, some large Internet platforms collect fees by guiding customers. This part of the fee may account for 6% and 7%, plus some provide risk mitigation. The market entities of the measures charge 6% and 7% of fees. In contrast, the fees charged by banks may only be 4% and 5%.
In some cases, these three aspects together account for about 20% of the cost.
"From the perspective of the next regulatory measures, we must not only regulate bank charges, but also intensify the regulation of other market entities related to financing charges." Guo Wuping emphasized, including large-scale Internet platforms and other risk mitigation measures. Market entities, etc.
Ensure that the fee is reduced and the service is not reduced
In the process of fee reduction and profit reduction, how can we achieve real benefits and market players, and reduce fees without reducing services?
It has been suggested that fee reduction and profit reduction are for payment institutions to "cut meat."
In this regard, Fan Yifei said, "We cannot completely agree with this statement."
On the one hand, the business development of market entities will also provide a continuous source of "living water" for payment service entities, boosting the upgrading of the payment industry.
On the other hand, the entire industry chain jointly assumes the responsibility of reducing fees, which will further optimize the cost transmission mechanism of the payment industry.
In addition, after the price adjustment, the main body of payment services will be promoted to transform the business philosophy of providing homogeneous services and using price as a single competitive element, and promote the provision of differentiated and personalized payment services in sub-sectors.
At the same time, financial management departments have also paid attention to the high market concentration of payment institutions and the limited living space of some small and medium-sized institutions.
Fan Yifei said that through the improvement of the top-level system design, payment institutions will be guided to adhere to the original intention of serving the real economy, truly return to the origin of small and convenient payments, correct market monopoly improper behavior, and better play the role of clearing institutions. Form an industry-coordinated and sustainable pricing system in various scenarios such as online payment, accelerate the structural reform of payment service supply, optimize the management of license resources, and promote the healthy development of the payment service market.
In order to effectively reduce fees and not service, the financial management department has also introduced a series of supporting measures.
Fan Yifei introduced that banks and payment institutions will be required to conduct self-inspection and clean-up of the charging situation, and must not increase the payment handling fees in disguised form by first raising and then lowering or passing on costs.
"We also require banks and payment institutions to establish'two sets of mechanisms' to ensure accurate policy transmission." Fan Yifei said, one is to establish a "small and micro enterprise dynamic identification mechanism" to reasonably define the identity of small and micro enterprises.
For situations where the identity of small and micro enterprises cannot be accurately defined, we must uphold the principle of reducing what should be reduced to maximize the benefits of the enterprise and the people.
The second is to improve the "fee refund mechanism" in response to mischarges and other situations, simplify the procedures and procedures for refunding fees, and ensure that the fee reduction policy is fully enjoyed.
In order to promote policy dividends directly to entities, Fan Yifei stated that he will ensure that the policies are useful, well-used, and easy to use, and strengthen policy interpretation and publicity guidance.
At the same time, strengthen window guidance and give play to the exemplary and leading role of state-owned banks and clearing institutions.
In addition, supervision and management will be strengthened.
The central bank and other departments will supervise and inspect the payment of fees and charges in accordance with the division of responsibilities, and strengthen supervision of institutions that do not implement policies in place.