By Shangguan Zhoudong (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-07-30 15:24

China UnionPay, the country's only national electronic payment and inter bank network operator, issued a report hinting that banks in China can collect automatic teller machine (ATM) surcharges, the Information Times reported today.

The report says that the current trans-bank ATM fees collected in China, such as the information enquiry fee, are not covering the costs of ATM operations.

Some banking experts said the time is not ripe for domestic banks to collect such surcharges.

In some countries where the ATM system is well established, ATM transaction costs are shouldered by cardholders, according to a bankcard principal of a Stated-owned lender's Guangdong Province branch.

But most of Chinese people are unaware of ATM surcharges.

According to a vice president of a Stated-owned bank's Guangdong branch, free service in banks runs deep in Chinese consciousness, and therefore changes could arouse opposition. If banks begin collecting the surcharges, they could lose the support of consumers.

The report says that by the end of 2006, the number of ATMs in China reached 97,800 and will hit roughly 200,000 by 2010 and 410,000 by 2014.

Huang Wei, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University, said banks should increase their efficiency and control costs to better manage the ATMs.

Commercial banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of China (BOC), and the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) began charging cardholders 0.3 yuan for each trans-bank inquiry from June 1, 2006.

But banks in China stopped collecting fees for trans-bank inquiries in April this year as the fee has triggered more controversy.