BPI to charge over-the-counter withdrawals, inter-regional deposits

Bad news to some kuripots who maintain an account with Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI). In their recent advisory, the bank will start charging over-the-counter withdrawals and inter-regional deposits starting September 1, 2018.

BPI is the preferred bank of some kuripots because of the flexibility that they offer to their depositors. Unline their direct competitors, the bank has been waiving fees for transactions such as withdrawing and depositing money directly from any of their branches.

This recent move of the Ayala-led bank is said to align with the industry practice. But, isn't it a good marketing strategy that they offer something that other big banks do not? Apparently, for BPI, it is not.

Both BPI and BPI Family Savings Bank will be implementing this new scheme starting September of this year. P50 will now be charged if you deposit outside your branch's region while over-the-counter withdrawals will be charged with P100 per transaction.

Below is the table of the adjusted fees per transaction:

BPI noted that intra-branch deposits, or those who will be depositing in a branch under the same region, will remain free. Same goes for over-the-counter withdrawals made with the client's branch of account.

BPI continues to be one of the banks with the most number of ATMs and branches nationwide so it is quite obvious that they have a huge number of clients. However, with this recent move, will there be a negative impact to their customer base? We don't really have much choice, right? Most of the banks are also doing the same.

Read the  bank's advisory here.