JMMB to introduce new banking fees
Published:Sunday | December 24, 2023 | 6:16 AM
Snipping away at costs while seeking to improve margins, JMMB Bank is cutting back on paper and will also be hiking fees early in the coming year.
Starting February 1, JMMB will charge $25 for each withdrawal beyond the four free ones it allows, and $60 for withdrawals from non-JMMB ATMs. The fees are new.
What the bank describes as “a nominal fee” of $12 each will also be charged for transactions done on POS or point-of-sale machines using the JMMB Bank Visa Card.
JMMB, the fifth largest of eight commercial banks, said the charges were in line with those charged by other banks.
“How we determine fees is still in keeping with our guiding principle of ‘fair fees’, that is, no ‘nuisance’ fees; fees charged for cost recovery and value-added services, and waiving fees, when we fall short in our service delivery,” the bank said in a comment to The Financial Gleaner regarding the fee hike.
“In our industry, other local banks charge their own fees for the card services they provide, for example, the cost to use their ATMs. Of course, in those instances, JMMB has no control over those fees and, as such, they are now being passed on to our clients who use those services,” it said.
Additionally, the new banking fees to be introduced, “are in line with or below the cost of similar services provided by other banks.”
Customer statements will also be emailed going forward, as the bank seeks to reduce expenditure on mail.
Jamaica’s retail banking sector is valued at around $3.4 trillion by assets, with JMMB Bank accounting for $188 billion of the total.