Senator calls for waiver on online transaction fees
A SENATOR on Wednesday urged the central bank and financial institutions to suspend fees on online transactions as the capital region grapples with mobility restrictions and shorter branch operations due to a surge in coronavirus cases.
“With a number of banks shortening their operating hours, some banks even temporarily closing as some of their employees have also contracted the disease or manifested symptoms of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), it would be a wise move if the public resort to electronic banking to lessen face-to-face transactions,” Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian said in a statement.
“While most are currently burdened with expenses brought about by medicines, COVID-19 testing fees and hospitalization, a fee-less money transfer service and payment transaction can also be a temporary relief measure to the public,” he added.
The senator suggested that companies offering e-wallet services do the same to lessen cash transactions and avoid queues at payment counters.
Banks and payment system firms suspended fees in the initial months of the pandemic in 2020, with some extending the waiver to the end of that year.
“The return of our lifestyles to normal will be quicker if we help one another,” the senator said. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan
