PRINTED IN THE STAR ONLINE, MALAYSIA
BANK Negara's proposal to increase the cost of using cheques from 15 sen to 65 sen beginning April 2014, is unwarranted and should be withdrawn.
Though Bank Negara wants to encourage consumers to use electronic banking, it is premature to do so as online transactions too have their limits.
Firstly, there is the question of safety and reliability.
Is it safe to transfer large sums of money online?
Losses in Internet banking due to fraud was RM3.2mil in 2012. When more are forced to use online transfer the figure will go up.
From experience we know how difficult it is for consumers to fight the banks when something goes wrong with electronic transfer of money.
The banks invariably reply that their system is running smoothly and the loss has to be borne by the consumers.
Secondly, not everyone is Internet savvy while others do not have access to the Internet.
When consumers feel comfortable with transferring money online, they will automatically start doing so because of its convenience.
Until then, it is not fair for consumers to be penalised for using cheques.
S.M. MOHAMED IDRIS
President, Consumers Association of Penang
BANK Negara's proposal to increase the cost of using cheques from 15 sen to 65 sen beginning April 2014, is unwarranted and should be withdrawn.
Though Bank Negara wants to encourage consumers to use electronic banking, it is premature to do so as online transactions too have their limits.
Firstly, there is the question of safety and reliability.
Is it safe to transfer large sums of money online?
Losses in Internet banking due to fraud was RM3.2mil in 2012. When more are forced to use online transfer the figure will go up.
From experience we know how difficult it is for consumers to fight the banks when something goes wrong with electronic transfer of money.
The banks invariably reply that their system is running smoothly and the loss has to be borne by the consumers.
Secondly, not everyone is Internet savvy while others do not have access to the Internet.
When consumers feel comfortable with transferring money online, they will automatically start doing so because of its convenience.
Until then, it is not fair for consumers to be penalised for using cheques.
S.M. MOHAMED IDRIS
President, Consumers Association of Penang
To encourage internet banking for payments, perhaps it's fairer to charge an admin fee to the payee instead.
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