Banks may continue to charge extra money for cash withdrawals. The Financial Complaints Institute (Kifid) announced this on Monday, after complaints from consumers. The fact that ABN Amro customers have had to pay extra since July last year if they withdraw more than 12,000 euros annually is not seen as unreasonable.
Among other things, Kifid received a complaint from a consumer who withdraws 300 euros a week – so 15,600 annually – as living money. At ABN Amro this now costs 83 euros: 5 euros plus half a percent of the amount withdrawn. The complainant felt that it was unfair, who always withdrew money to keep an overview of the expenses.
The KIFID . Disputes Committee thinks otherwise† The costs of fighting financial crime have gone up, banks say. And because fewer and fewer people use cash, debit card payment is becoming more expensive. According to the Kifid, these are good arguments as long as consumers can pay in enough other ways.
In recent years, the use of cash has strongly declined in the Netherlands. While 45 billion euros were withdrawn from ATMs in 2016, in 2020 this was only 28.5 billion. For example, cash is more accessible to the elderly and low-literate than digital payment. Also for privacy reasons, some prefer cash.