DNA member Steven Reyme wants parliament to develop legislation to protect citizens against high bank charges. On Tuesday, he criticised in De Nationale Assemblée (Suriname’s parliament) the fees charged by private banks for, among other things, deposits and cash withdrawals.
According to Reyme, citizens are being burdened with costs when they want access to their own money. “Why is this necessary?” he asked the government. He believes parliament should investigate the matter and take legal measures.
“The population is already struggling so much, yet people are trying in all kinds of ways to extort money from the public,” Reyme stated.
DNA member Ebu Jones also criticised withdrawal charges at ATMs. According to him, customers regularly have to carry out multiple transactions to withdraw the desired amount, causing the costs to rise.
Jones stated that the daily withdrawal limit is SRD 10,000, but that ATMs often dispense only SRD 1,000 or SRD 2,000 per transaction. Anyone wishing to withdraw the full daily amount therefore has to use their bank card several times and pays transaction charges again with each withdrawal.
“What use is SRD 1,000 or SRD 2,000 per day in these times?” Jones asked.
According to the rates cited in parliament, ATM withdrawal charges have been increased since 1 August from SRD 11 to SRD 17.60 per transaction, including VAT. A charge of SRD 1.10 per transaction applies for balance enquiries.
For three withdrawals, the transaction charges amount to SRD 52.80; for four withdrawals, this is SRD 70.40. Jones considers it unacceptable that citizens lose such amounts in order to withdraw their own money.
