Eximbank is the next bank to “step in” and adjust the fee for SMS Banking notifications of customer account balance changes. From March 1st, Eximbank will adjust the policy of charging fees for exceeding SMS Banking messages for individuals with more than 20 messages/month.
Specifically, if within a month customers receive more than 20 SMS Banking messages, in addition to the fees for SMS Banking service, Combo package… (collected at the beginning of the period, monthly, quarterly), Eximbank will charge 770 VND/message/month/account/subscription for exceeding SMS messages. At the same time, balance change notifications will only be sent via SMS for transactions of over 50,000 VND.
According to Eximbank, the fee adjustment is aimed at encouraging customers to switch from paid SMS Banking service to free OTT service (balance change management on Eximbank Edigi application for individuals), which helps save costs for both customers and the bank.
Many commercial banks have begun to charge fees for SMS based on the actual number of messages, instead of a fixed monthly fee as before
Previously, a series of other commercial banks such as Vietcombank, Sacombank, VPBank, ACB, OCB, Nam A Bank… also announced changes in SMS fee policies. Instead of charging a fixed monthly fee for each account/subscription as before, these banks have switched to charging fees based on the actual number of messages generated each month.
At the end of February 2024, Ms. Hong Ngoc (Hanoi) said she proactively sent a text to cancel Vietcombank’s SMS Banking service in order to switch to receiving balance changes on the Vietcombank Digibank application to avoid fees. Since the beginning of 2024, Vietcombank has changed its SMS fee schedule. If customers generate less than 20 messages/month/phone number, the fee is 10,000 VND. If customers generate more than 20 messages, the SMS fee will be charged based on the actual number of messages, at 700 VND/message.
Explaining the above-mentioned series of changes in fee policies, a representative of a bank said this is for the benefit of both customers and the bank.
Indeed, with the current technology trend, customers always have internet access to receive account balance change notifications for free via banking applications. While SMS Banking messages have limitations in terms of characters, lack of accents, and charge fees based on the actual number of messages generated, free OTT services on banking applications are more beneficial for customers.
“Even with banks charging customers 600-800 VND/message for SMS Banking, they are still incurring losses because they have to pay about 1,000 VND/message to the network provider. With free OTT services on applications, banks can be proactive in technology, not dependent on third parties, and can increase the safety and security of their products/services” – explained the representative of this bank.
The Deputy General Director of another commercial bank provided additional information that banks are forced to change direction and encourage customers to receive free balance notifications because the cost of SMS Banking is too high.
“Currently, non-cash payments are popular, and account balances change constantly. Banks can hardly bear the burden while network providers refuse to reduce fees despite various requests, so banks have to find solutions. With the roadmap to turn off 2G networks and reduce brand name phishing to deceive customers, the situation will improve” – said the Deputy General Director of this bank.
