B.N.Z. charges to rise this month

Press, 2 June 1981, Page 6

B.N.Z. charges to rise this month

PA Wellington Bank of New Zealand cheque account charges will rise from June 15,. but the increases will be offset by a wide range of concessions. There will be benefits for many personal account holders, some smaller businesses, and senior citizens. Each quarter there would be rebates for holders of accounts with monthly mini-

mum : balances of at least $5OO, said the bank’s general manager (Mr W. J. Shaw) yesterday.

The move was “a significant step towards a more balanced charging structure,” he said. It would not produce extra revenue for the bank. However, future increases to offset rising costs were inevitable. The :new charges will be payable quarterly, instead of half-yearly as at present. The quarterly base fee for running an account covering up to 30 statement transac-

tions will rise to $1 from the equivalent of 65c for 50 transactions. ' Nationwide personal account fees will rise to $1.50 a quarter, compared with the equivalent of $1 at present. There will be no change in the clearance fee of 5c an item or the activity fee of 6c an item for statement transactions exceeding 30 a quarter. At present, the first item lodged by a depositor is exempt from the clearance fee. After June 15 the limit will be increased to five items. However, where more than five are lodged in a day, the fee will be payable on all of them. Since a February 17 announcement by the Bankers’ Association, trading banks have been free to ■ adjust their own fee rates. The Bank of New Zealand is one of the first to follow this decision. Benefits under . the new scheme include:—

• A $1 per $5OO quarterly rebate for account holders with monthly minimum balances of at "least $5OO.

• An exemption from base and activity fees for customers aged 65 and over if they have superannuation or other equivalent payments credited to their accounts.

• An increase in the number of daily items free from clearance fees from one to five, making nearly all personal account holders and some small businesses virtually exempt from this charge.

"The new scale of charges has been designed to keep revenue from cheque account fees at a. similar level to that obtained from the present scqle,” said Mr Shaw.

"We estimate that a large proportion of our customers, possibly a little more than half, will pay no more than the new base fee of $1 a quarter for their cheque accounts,” he said.