THE Jamaica National Bank has come under fire for charging a fee to customers who use their banking halls on a Saturday, but remains steadfast on the issue.

St Catherine Southern Member of Parliament Fitz Jackson, who has been pushing in Parliament to have the Banking Services Act amended to deal with some of the fees charged by deposit-taking institutions, slammed the bank for the charges.

“It’s grossly unreasonable for any bank, being open on their own volition, charge a customer for utilising on any select day opened to the public. This is a dangerous slippery slope, where any other days can so attract additional charges,” Jackson railed. The bank charges its customers $250 per in-branch transaction on Saturdays.

However, JN Bank, in response to Jamaica Observer queries, said: “With regard to Saturday banking, these fees are charged, as Saturday banking is an additional service offered to members outside our regular banking hours.”

JN Bank also indicated to the Business Observer that the last round of fee increases it implemented in 2020 were connected to specific services provided to the banking public under conditions caused by the onset of COVID-19.

Those fees included the $1,000 service charge for some in-branch services, which the bank said was put into effect to encourage clients to use alternative means of accessing their accounts, during the pandemic and with the need for social distancing requirements.

It also said while it did not increase fees this year, “some third-party costs to recover arrears for credit facilities were passed on to members.”

But in an earlier response, the bank told the Business Observer that the fee changes noted in 2020 “only included those fees that had been suspended or had not been implemented to support members during the pandemic.”

“We remind members that all transactions offered through our JN Bank ATMs for JN Bank debit card holders are free of charge and also several services offered via our online banking platform. Also, cardless deposits to JN members’ accounts via our Smart ATMs are free. Members may withdraw up to $100,000 from JN Bank ATMs, and deposit up to $1 million at select ATMs,” the bank added.

The fees put in place in 2020 including in-branch cash lodgments have been increased from free to $1,000 for amounts less than $1 million.

In-branch withdrawals which previously attracted a fee of $98.72 moved to a charge of $1,000 per transaction. Senior citizens over 62 years old are exempt. In-branch cheque lodging, previously free, began to attract a charge of $1,000.

A charge of $197.42, previously applied to in-branch bill payments, was in 2020 newly applied to dropbox payments while $1,000 was the new charge for in-branch bill payments.

An earlier group response indicated that the commercial bank was upgrading services, leading to the need for the new charges.

The bank also noted that physical distancing requirements, due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, have further presented a need for it to reduce gatherings inside its branches and, “therefore, we have boosted our digital alternative channels to support our members.”

“We have been encouraging members to use our Smart ATMs, dropbox and JN Bank online banking platform, to conduct their everyday banking transactions, such as withdrawals, deposits and bill payments, which do not need to be done by a teller,” the bank stated.

Individuals who “choose to conduct transactions in branches that can be done using alternative channels will pay an over-the-counter service charge of $1,000,” it was stated.

JN Group, in its earlier response, said service charges will be contributed to JN Foundation to implement projects and initiatives to serve members and their communities.

But the issue of adding charges for certain bank transactions and now a charge for using banking services on Saturday have not gone down well with Jackson.

“I might add, the intransigence of the Government on the Bill before Parliament has given further licence for the banks to do as they wish. This position is reinforced by the Government’s failure to take steps to have the banks refund illegally collected dormancy fees,” he added, citing the recent decision banks took to suspend charges against dormant accounts.

“Mindful that the banks only suspended, not terminated, the dormancy fees went it was highlighted that it is a breach of the existing law, and they could be sued,” he pointed out.

Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) deputy leader Richard Creary even added his voice to the banking fees issue calling on the Government of Jamaica on Monday to urgently engage the banks in light of recent announcements about banks increasing fees after reading a Jamaica Observer story on the matter.

Jackson seeing that call questioned if Creary was speaking on his own or on behalf of the JLP.

However, he continued: “I welcome the interest of my fellow Jamaicans and others across political lines. I only hope that will carry through to political action in the Parliament and that will test the sincerity of our expression. We can’t make convenient political utterances because Jamaica is just tired of it.”

He concluded: “If we mean it, act on it. The truth be told and the bankers have told me, they don’t mind how much we quarrel about fees, it doesn’t bother them, so long as nothing changes.”