Spain’s biggest banks to introduce ATM charges for non-customers
(14 August 2015 – Spain) More of Spain’s big lenders will introduce ATM charges to customers from other banks that use their machines.
Banco Santander SA and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA), the country’s two top banks will begin charging non-customers €2 (A$3.02) each time to use their ATMS.
Spain’s third-biggest bank, CaixaBank SA started levying the fee in March as an alternative source of revenue.
CaixaBank chief executive Gonzalo Gortazar said on 31 July the bank was levying the charge after investing €500 million in upgrading its ATM network.
Currently interest rates are at record lows with the banks finding new ways to gather revenue from fees as competition heats up.
According to the Bank of Spain, competition among banks to make higher-yielding loans, such as those to small and medium companies, is increasing.
New loans to small and medium-sized companies were offering interest rates of 3.28 percent in June, down from 4.59 percent a year ago, according to the central bank.
It is common practice in many countries to charge non-customers to use cash machines, however the Spanish economy is only now emerging from an economic slump, with many questioning if now is the right time to be hit with more fees.
Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank have a combined 21,800 cashpoints in Spain, or about 44 percent of the total.
Other banks including Banco Sabadell SA and Banco Popular Espanol SA have said they are studying whether to introduce a similar fee for non-clients.
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