[ad_1]
The owners of the Šiauliai car rental and repair company have decided to switch banks this year. They didn’t hate ever-increasing fees for services.
“We changed, we moved from a bank that we had for many years. For better conditions. We use the services: bank accounts, cards, scanners, which are necessary for the service ”, says Rita Cukurienė, commercial director of the company.
For the services, the company pays a stable monthly fee to the bank and a portion of the income received by the card reader. The company cannot do without it, but complains that the price of this banking service is too high.
“With a card reader, we pay a solid percentage of the income we receive, depriving us of taking money for cash withdrawals and ATM deposits. It is predatory and illogical. We have little to do with cash. It is necessary to leave a deposit when renting a car, it is more convenient to use a bank card. We introduced this service because it is convenient for the tenant, but it is an expensive service for the company, ”says R. Cukurienė.
During the three quarters of the previous year, commercial banks operating in Lithuania earned LTL 213 million. profit in euros. But this year services are becoming more expensive again. Here, a bank increases the card usage fees and you have to pay more not only to have a card, but also to replace it. There is also a 5 EUR fee for re-registering your Smart ID account with the bank.
You have to pay a fee already for cash 10 thousand. exceeding the deposit limit in euros. Another bank is increasing cash deposit and withdrawal fees starting this month. The issuance of payment cards at bank branches is also more expensive.
Here’s what residents are saying:
“I make a deposit, I deduct for service instead of the percentage growing. I was disappointed. “
“What are those 3 euros?” He says. I need 3 euros “.
“It just came to our attention then. It’s kind of unpleasant.
Representatives of the Bank of Lithuania, which oversees the activities of commercial banks, explain that there is nothing to complain about, the fees for banking services in Lithuania are similar to those in other Baltic countries, only lower in Poland. And the Bank of Lithuania is unable to stop the rise in prices and blames the small Lithuanian market and the supposed weakness of the competition. The Competition Council cannot help either.
“With few market participants, it is not reasonable to expect high competition. It is necessary to look for opportunities for entities that provide services here to start operating in Lithuania, to come and establish themselves here, who can also offer their basket of services in other EU countries ”, says Marius Jurgilas, representative of the Bank of Lithuania.
“Not necessarily high prices or prices different from other countries mean a violation. If we expand the comparison, each new state would introduce a new package, a price basket, we will always find where the prices are lower or higher, there are many circumstances ”Said the president of the Competition Council Šarūnas Keserauskas.
Representatives of commercial banks explain that they increase rates to ensure the high quality of services. The new governors of the Seimas were interested in the rates that the commercial banks raised again. However, the president of the Budget and Finance Commission, Mykolas Majauskas, admits that he will not have the leverage to stop the growth of rates, calls for hope in the new electronic payment companies.
“The pressure on bank shareholders to make as much money as possible in the current circumstances will be stronger than our public pressure. The only antidote is to increase competition to attract new entrants to financial markets. difficult. The Bank of Lithuania has taken important measures to attract financial technology companies, exceeding the prices of large tanks. Several hundred companies have come, it is important that they grow and expand their services to consumers “, says the president of the commission Mykolas Majauskas.
However, representatives of the Bank of Lithuania claim that it is difficult for payment startups to compete with large banks, they provide many financial services and therefore retain customers, but at the same time increase service fees.
“There are definitely cheaper options on the market, taking each service separately. The consumer chooses a package, not a stick for one store and kefir for another 10 km away. You go to one, where it is cheaper on average ”, says M. Jurgilas.
And officials from the Ministry of Finance accuse the entrepreneurs themselves of resenting the greed of the banks operating in Lithuania, but for some reason they do not use the cheaper services of foreign banks.
“What are the barriers to choosing cheaper services from other providers? Why choose a more expensive basket?” Says Deputy Finance Minister Vaida Česnulevičiūtė.
Such suggestions from officials to financial expert Kęstutis Kupšis make him smile. He warns that the new fintech companies have limited capacities, they cannot make all the payments or all the services, so he urges not to bury the project of the state commercial bank.
“One million euros will continue to be taken out of the pockets of Lithuanian consumers and businesses every day, because we have no leverage. They do not necessarily have to be provided by the government. The authorities of the capitalist economy make it clear that we do not want to regulate this area by giving it these levers. We have set only a small fee and it must be good, “said Kęstutis Kupšys, director of” For Fair Banking “.
However, the new governors describe the creation of a state commercial bank as risky and too expensive for the state, so they are not considering this peasant project. And the Competition Council also does not give high hopes of more competition in the banking sector, promising to present proposals at least to small and medium-sized companies on how to get financing shaken by large commercial banks in just a couple of months.
[ad_2]
