Photo of Judita Grigelytė (VŽ).
Despite twice the profit earned last year, some of the Lithuanian commercial banks intend to increase service prices. SEB and Luminor are raising the price of daily services, while Swedbank and Citadele do not yet have such plans.
Simonas Krėpšta, a member of the board of the Bank of Lithuania, emphasized that the banks’ decision to raise service rates as their profits grow shows a lack of social responsibility.
After SEB updated its service plans in April, the withdrawal rate for customers who do not have a payment plan will change from April 9. increased from 0.8 to 2% of the withdrawal amount.
Depending on the plan, SEB customers will be able to withdraw from EUR 550 to EUR 2,000 per month for free. Previously, the maximum limit was EUR 1,000.
According to Eglė Dovbyšienė, head of SEB’s Retail Banking Service, new plans for private customers will cost up to 7 EUR per month, but the most expensive – “Premium” plan – will be subject to a 50% discount until the end of the year.
The minimum – 1 EUR per month – will be paid by senior citizens, while the services will not cost children and young people.
Currently, the prices of the plans offered by SEB range from 0.5 to 2.5 EUR per month.
According to E. Dovbyšienė, the bank changes part of the rates after adding new services to the updated plans, so it would not be accurate to compare the old and new rates.
“We cannot compare existing and upgraded bank service plans. Updated service plans differ in their content, new or expanded services, they are structured differently”, said E. Dovbyšienė.
According to her, SEB will offer instant and purchase insurance in the updated plans.
According to E. Dovbyšienė, SEB updated the rates after conducting a survey of customers of various age groups, taking into account their requirements.
She also testified that the bank has not increased service plan fees for private customers since their creation in 2012.
According to the SEB representative, 94% of the bank’s customers use the plans.
According to Luminor, the bank’s changed rates will affect a small number of customers – the bank will increase the free cash withdrawal limit from 600 to 750 EUR per month from July, and if it is exceeded, a new 0.5% fee will be applied.
About every tenth bank customer exceeds the cash withdrawal limit.
The bank said that with prices of goods and services still high, the current limit “no longer always meets the needs of customers”.
Luminor will also increase the monthly fee for an additional debit card from 1 to 1.2 EUR for adult customers. 3% of Luminor customers have such a card.
“These future changes, which do not apply to all customers, reflect the increased cost of maintaining certain products and services in the current economic environment,” said Luminor representatives.
At that time, Swedbank informed that it had not yet approved plans to change rates.
“We have no confirmed plans to change the rates in the bank. When evaluating pricing, the bank usually monitors the market situation, changing customer needs, service provision costs incurred, investments in digital solutions and other circumstances,” Swedbank commented.
Citadele Bank also said it has no plans to change rates. From 750 to 1,500 EUR can be withdrawn free of charge at the bank’s ATMs, three-level payment cards are charged at 1.99, 3 and 5 EUR, respectively.
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Tags: SEB Luminor increasing service rates Swedbank Citadele
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