For a long time, consumers have complained about the state of our economy and how it’s changed the way banks make money. Instead of making their dough from interest on loans, banks now make most of their money from charges that you and I pay when we transact and for the upkeep of our accounts.
With this in mind, we contacted 14 commercial banks to get the latest charges for transactions. We compiled these charges over a year ago so this list is also a good reflection of the changes since then:
PS: The charges in the table exclude the 2% IMT tax
| Bank | POS fees (transactions below $10) | POS fees (transactions below $20) | POS fees (transactions above $10) | POS fees (transactions above $20) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agribank | $0.20 | $2 | ||
| BancABC | $0.50 | $3 | ||
| CABS | 0.5% (min $0.40 – max $6 ) | 0.5% (min $0.40 – max $6 ) | ||
| CBZ | 2.5% (min $3.00 – Max $25.00) | 2.5% (min $3.00 – Max $25.00) | ||
| EcoBank | 1% of the transaction value | 1% of the transaction value | ||
| FBC | $0.20 | $0.74 | ||
| FirstCapital | $0.30 | $1.00 | ||
| Metbank | * $1.35 min – $5 max (* thresholds not specified) | * $1.35 min – $5 max (* thresholds not specified) | ||
| Nedbank | $0.50 | $2.50 | ||
| NMB | $0.50 | $0.50 | $1.85 | |
| StanBic | $0.20 | 0.5% – minimum $0.50 and maximum $10.00 | 0.5% – minimum $0.50 and maximum $10.00 | |
| Standard Chartered | $0.19 | $0.85 | $0.85 | |
| Steward | $0.80 | $1.65 + 0.05% of transaction value | ||
| ZB | $0.93 | $0.93 | $0.93 | $0.93 |
Changes
Last year when reviewing these charges Standard Chartered was the only bank not charging clients for transacting in shops. As you can see in the table above that’s no longer the case even though they have some of the lower charges.
Suggestions for the banks
When compiling these charges it became clear to me that banks need to have these charges on their websites because a few banks actually had customer support agents who just didn’t know what the current charges are. We complained about transparency last year as well which suggests most banks aren’t particularly concerned with full transparency when it comes to what they are charging clients.
In this regard, their mobile money competition has served consumers far better with prominent notices and charge sheets which are available and usually updated on their websites.
Also, some of the banks don’t have toll-free lines – you could call and not get the information you need as a customer which is not only irritating but also expensive. Kudos to Stanbic who had the charges on their site and were also quick to respond via social media.
Finally, it would be great if all banks had a WhatsApp line where customers can reach them at a fraction of the cost. It seems CBZ is the only bank that had an easy-to-find WhatsApp contact. I’m not sure if the other banks don’t have WhatsApp at all or if the WhatsApp contacts are harder to find.
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