Several banks in India are starting to assess charges for customers to talk to a customer service representative. The policy changes are part of an effort to encourage customers to use online banking, IVR service and ATMs to deal with the majority of their banking business.
Some examples show how banks will impose the charges. There are slight variations, but the end result is to encourage customers to use various automated systems as much as possible.
Standard Chartered Bank allows two free calls per month to a phone banking executive. All subsequent calls result in a charge equivalent to $0.75 US.
HDFC will charge the same amount per call if customers do not maintain a minimum balance and speak to a rep when the information is available through automated channels.
SMS alerts will generally also come with a charge. Customers can opt out of SMS alerts except those mandated by the regulations enacted by the Reserve Bank of India. All withdrawals above $75 US for example, trigger an SMS alert that customers cannot opt out of.
Bank charges have always been a sore subject among consumers, but a look at policies of U.S. banks shows that what Indian banks are doing is not much different than what their American counterparts do.
Chase Bank’s Total Checking account is their most common checking account. Fees and Conditions vary slightly in different areas and their website requests a ZIP code to see what features its checking accounts have.
The following fees and conditions apply to a Total Checking account opened in Dallas, TX:
Customers can avoid charges with a $1,500 minimum daily balance or $5,000 in linked accounts and investments or direct deposits of $500 per month. Otherwise the monthly charge is $12.
Value Checking, the Wells Fargo (News - Alert) entry level checking account service, charges a $7 monthly fee for online statements and $9 with printed statements for an account in Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert). Similar to Chase, customers can avoid the monthly fee with a minimum of $500 in monthly direct deposits or a $1,500 minimum daily balance.
While the above U.S. based banks did not specify charges for customer service, they do impose charges and offer similar conditions, like minimum balances, to avoid the other charges.
As far as banking in India is concerned, if you live paycheck to paycheck with only a small amount of money in the bank and frequently need assistance from a customer service representative, banking just became very expensive for you.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson