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 | Standard Bank refutes Capgemini finding on bank charges |  |  |
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25 June 2007
Standard Bank strongly refutes the findings of a Capgemini survey that claims that South Africans pay more than double the international average on a current account. In fact Standard Bank customers pay almost half of the amount quoted in the report.
International comparisons of bank fees are notoriously unreliable given that direct comparisons are difficult to make. During the compilation of the report, Standard Bank raised numerous concerns with Capgemini's local researchers. However, these were not taken into account in the final report.
The report falls short in a number of areas, including:
- Failing to take account of the true cost of the banking services. In countries with higher per capita GDP, customers generally have larger balances on which banks earn significant interest income. Furthermore in many countries banks earn interest on float (uncleared funds held by the bank). This is used to cross-subsidise transaction fees.
- A consistent customer profile is not used, both in terms of type and number of transactions.
The vast majority of Standard Bank current account customers use our fixed monthly fee options. Classic current account customers typically pay R85 a month or €107 a year – 45% below the €196 claimed by Capgemini. On this "bundled" package Standard Bank customers receive over 600 transactions a year compared to the less than 250 transaction in the Capgemini profile.
Furthermore, the Capgemini report overstates the true costs at which Standard Bank customers can obtain high-quality banking services. The reality is that about 80% of Standard Bank's customers are E Plan customers (transactor customers as described in the report). The E Plan account has all the functionality of a current account, with the exception of cheque and overdraft facilities. A typical Standard Bank E-Plan customer pays €52 a year, a quarter of the €196 claimed by Capgemini.
Over the past five years the real cost of transaction banking services for Standard Bank customers has fallen by 16%. For Standard Bank's more than 3.5 million E-Plan customers, the real cost of banking over that period has fallen by 18%.
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