After charging fees for access to one's own money, bankers are now charging fees even for cash deposits into accounts, in an attempt to boost revenues.
The list of bank fees is becoming longer and longer as bankers are trying to find ways to offset the decline in revenues from lending, but their search has led to conclusions that are hard to understand, considering that even the depositing of cash into current accounts or the receipt of money transfers end up being subject to fees.
"Banks are going through a difficult time, because they need as many revenues as possible as a result of the high expenses caused by non-performing loans. I find the measure wrong, however, because it reveals the lack of competition in the banking system. Most countries in Europe don't have something like this," comments Laurian Lungu, managing partner of Macroanalitica research company.
BCR, the biggest local bank, charges 1 RON from its customers when they deposit RON in their own accounts. If the deposit is made to another client's account, then the fee starts from 4 RON and may go to 20 RON. BRD and Raiffeisen, another two top ranking banks do not charge a fee for cash deposits, but charge their clients a fee when they put money into their accounts via a payment order, which does not involve any cash, however. Most of the times, this also includes the payment of salaries on employees' cards by employers, with employees paying a fee any time their salaries are wired in.
After charging fees for access to one's own money, bankers are now charging fees even for cash deposits into accounts, in an attempt to boost revenues.
The list of bank fees is becoming longer and longer as bankers are trying to find ways to offset the decline in revenues from lending, but their search has led to conclusions that are hard to understand, considering that even the deposit
