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PETALING JAYA: The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) has urged Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) and its shareholders, including Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), to abolish the RM1 interbank withdrawal fee.
NUBE said the majority of customers impacted by the fee were from lower-income groups, including a large population of union members who were already struggling to make ends meet.
It also said that the fee had been particularly burdensome for lower-income families still recovering from the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Imposing this fee on individuals who frequently use ATMs outside of their banking network is not only unfair but also exacerbates the financial challenges they face.
“Many of these customers need to make withdrawals while on the go, and the added cost of RM1 per transaction can accumulate quickly, further straining their limited resources,” it said in a statement.
The government introduced a waiver on the MEPS system on April 6, 2020. OCBC and UOB waived the fee a month earlier.
The move was to allow people to withdraw cash from ATMs sharing the MEPS system during the movement control order without having to pay the RM1 charge.
However, the fee was reinstated by banks from Feb 1, 2022 onwards.
NUBE said it was the moral obligation of PayNet and its shareholders to waive the fee for all customers from the lower-income group.
It also called on PayNet and banks to explore alternative solutions that would ease the financial burden on lower-income families.