Vietcombank adjusts service charges yet again

Vietcombank modified its service charges twice in less than two months

Specifically, Vietcombank publicised its extended announcement regarding the adjustment of its mobile banking service charges. Taken into effect from April 15, the commercial bank would pose a new fee schedule for its SMS banking service named Mobile Bankplus.

Regarding transactions among banking accounts within Vietcombank’s system on the Mobile BankPlus platform, the service charge would be VND2,200 ($0.09) per transaction for transfers below VND50 million ($2,195) and VND5,000 ($0.21) per transaction for transfers over VND50 million ($2,195).

Meanwhile, mobile transaction fees between accounts in different banks would be cut down from VND11,000 ($0.48) per transaction to VND7,000 ($0.3) per transaction under VND10 million ($439). For transfers over VND10 million ($439), the bank-to-bank transaction fee would be 0.02 per cent of the total transfer value, ranging from VND10,000 ($0.43) to VND1 million ($43.91) per transaction.

Previously, the transaction fees applied to accounts within the same system at Vietcombank remained free-of-charge since the first effective date of the mobile banking service until the recent fee adjustment.

Additionally, from March 1 onward, the monthly service charge for SMS Banking services, including receiving notifications of the account’s credit/debit activities through text messages, would rise from VND8,800 ($0.38) to VND11,000 ($0.48) per account.

In late February, several clients opening accounts at Vietcombank filed complaints regarding confusion over the SMS Banking service charge, stating that VND11,000 ($0.48) was deducted from their accounts as “monthly fee for the SMS Banking service,” yet the new fee adjustment was not scheduled until March 1.

Vietcombank (ticker VCB on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange), is one of the largest commercial banks in Vietnam, operating more than 50 branches, transaction offices, subsidiaries, and representative offices, as well as affiliates.

On April 17, the Vietnam-based commercial bank was scheduled to auction over 6.6 million shares of Orient Commercial Bank (OCB) at the starting price of $0.59 per share in an attempt to minimise its cross-ownership at local banks.