Association of Serbian Banks: Banks Will Not Raise Prices of Services for the Economy

When asked whether an increase in the prices of fees and commissions is a part of a responsible and sustainable business policy, Vladimir Vasic, the secretary general of the Association of Serbian Banks (ASB), reminds that the economy has been growing year after year and that setting apart the banks’ earning, which have grown around 12% in a year, is not fair.

He said on TV N1 that there was an inflation, that input costs had grown for banks, that software and hardware prices had grown, but that the banks had understood the situation and that things would be as agreed with the NBS for the next year.

– As for the law, banks are allowed to freely set their prices in line with the market, but the public always has a negative reaction to price increases – Vasic said.

– But they understood the message and they will now take a part of the costs upon themselves – he says.

Commenting on the justification for the increase in the prices of certain services, such as the incorrectly typed PIN code or the costs of unused checks, Vasic says that there are certain costs which follow that service as well, that every inquest in the information system is a cost, and that an ATM swallows the card after the PIN code is typed incorrectly three times, which is followed by a whole range of activities, someone has to take the card, hand it to you etc. However, that doesn’t happen often.

As he notes, consumers should carefully analyze the offer. The NBS website lists the prices of the fees, and rarely anyone takes a look at them, and that is the best way to choose the bank where the client will have the most favorable package, he says. He adds that, among other things, it is the price policy that motivates the consumer to use a service or not.

When asked whether banks will now raise prices for legal persons in order to compensate for the losses from their retail sector, Vasic says that it will not happen and that “banks offer them services which help them be more efficient – through crediting or digital payment”.

– Following the decision of the NBS to raise the key policy rate to 3%, the users of dinar credits with a variable interest rate will be affected by a slight increase in installments of several hundred dinars – Vasic stated.

Narodna banka Srbije Beograd

Udruženje banaka Srbije

NBS

Vladimir Vasić

increase in prices of banking fees

increase in prices of banking commissions

increase in prices of banking services