Transaction fees worse than usury

This year’s All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days that fell on Friday and Saturday, respectively, gave us another long weekend. To give us all Filipinos lead time to plan ahead on where to spend our non-working days with our families, Malacañang Palace released last week the list of official holidays and other special non-working holidays for 2025. After all, this will promote the “holiday economics” as a policy that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) reinstituted in our country.

The holiday economics became a government policy in 2007 when then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act (RA) 9492, allowing the Chief Executive to move holidays that fall on a Wednesday or Sunday to the closest Monday. While this had become acceptable to most sectors, workers who are not permanently employed who fall under the labor laws on no-work, no-pay were not happy about it. Thus, the holiday economics policy was scrapped after the late president Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III assumed office in June 2010.

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, former president Rodrigo Duterte signed a proclamation declaring fewer non-working days in 2021 supposedly to boost the economy that hit negative growth due to lockdowns. In his Proclamation, Nov. 2 (All Souls’ Day), Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve) and Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve), which had been special holidays in the past, were declared as special working days. “For the country to recover from the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to encourage economic productivity by, among others, minimizing work disruption and commemorating some special holidays as special (working) days instead,” the Duterte proclamation stated.

In 2022, PBBM reintroduced holiday economics when he issued Proclamation 90 that declared the regular holidays and special non-working days for 2023. Issued on Nov. 11, 2022, PBBM’s proclamation likewise invoked the need to boost the domestic tourism industry that was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns.

Under Proclamation No. 727 signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin “by the authority of the President” issued last week, the regular holidays for 2025 included the anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution on Feb. 25 which falls on a Tuesday next year. The 38th anniversary of the EDSA Revolution was not included in the list of this year’s holidays. Malacañang explained its exclusion was because the date fell on a Sunday.

Also, the assassination of the late senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino (Aug. 21), which will fall on a Thursday, is among the “special non-working days” for 2025. Incidentally, PBBM issued a separate Proclamation No. 729 that declared July 27, 2025, the founding anniversary of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), as a “special non-working day” nationwide.

While the Philippines struggles to get a large chunk of the global tourism and travel market, holiday economics provide the much-needed shot in the arm from our own people, who are encouraged to visit our own country. When Filipinos themselves get enough time to visit and go to these places, why not? That is, if we have enough money to spend for these out-of-town trips and travels.

Naturally, banks also observe no work during these holidays, especially in cases of emergency when one might need extra cash. But no worries. There are a lot of automated teller machines (ATMs) available to withdraw cash from our bank accounts. The only problem is when an ATM conks out due to a glitch, or its dispenser runs out of cash due to heavy withdrawals.

That’s exactly what happens whenever long weekend holidays spur domestic spending.

If an ATM conks out, a depositor can use another bank’s ATM terminal. But when a bank suffers “off-line” glitch, then it becomes a problem because all ATM terminals of that bank cannot be accessed. Still, there is a solution because all Philippine banks are connected through inter-bank ATM transactions, either MegaLink or BancNet. But if you use another bank’s ATM terminal to withdraw cash, be ready to pay fees or charges for specific transactions.

Once the ATM processes it, a transaction fee of P18 is automatically debited or deducted from your bank account. If you use other ATM networks in the Philippines, transaction limit is P10,000 – although some banks allow as high as P20,000 maximum withdrawal per transaction. But all of them impose “corresponding charges” or transactions fees that banks collect from non-depositors using their ATM terminal.

Imagine the dismay of a recipient of the government’s monthly cash subsidy, popularly called “ayuda,” that may soon be downloaded in ATMs. Checking at the ATM if the P500 “ayuda” is already deposited to his bank account, he is charged automatically a P2 transaction fee for balance inquiry.

For a Juan dela Cruz depositor, whether it’s P2 or P18 per transaction, the fee is too much of a deduction. Such a transaction fee hurts a lot the pockets of small depositors.

This is not to mention these banks automatically deduct 20 percent withholding income tax on interest earnings on our savings deposits.

No wonder banks make a lot of money even during COVID-19 pandemic and disasters and crises. Like any other business, banks take advantage of us consumers, despite being their own customers. Know-your-client and abuse them.

But the most usury-like transaction fee is the “cash-in” being now a popular mobile electric wallet service. It offers and allows subscribers/users to send and receive money, pay bills, buy load and shop online. It also offers a variety of other features, such as investment products and borrowing cash or emergency loans.

One e-wallet service provider charges as much as two percent transaction fee on cash-ins that exceed the monthly limit of P8,000. So if you are supposed to receive P10,000, you will get only P9,702 because P198.00 was automatically deducted from your cash-in.

And yet all these banks and financial institutions have been digitalized supposedly to make transactions less costly but more convenient, efficient and fast. But obviously, the banks and other financial intermediaries are only too eager to pass on the cost of digitalization to their consumers and customers.