Thursday, 20th November 2008
Exorbitant charge for money transfer
I always had the impression that local bank charges were more or less in line with those of other banks in Europe.
I realise now that it is not the case. Quite recently I was charged €30 by HSBC for transferring, via e-banking, €1,000 to a bank account in Italy. Just a few days ago a much bigger sum was similarly transferred to my HSBC Bank account in Sliema but the bank charges applied by the Italian bank in Italy were only €6.
No wonder HSBC profits keep going up and up every year.
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Needless to say that I made other arrangements.
Deposit a foreign cheque into your current account and you have a 30 day wait for the cash, while I know for sure that the sum concerned is transferred within 4 to 5 days, sitting in your local bank, not your account. The point is who gets the interests?
Plus you get charged 0.5% on the whole sum for bringing foreign needed cash into the country.
On a invite to Wall Street Stock Exchange, mafia boss Lucky Luciano uttered; `And you call me a gangster!`
They haven't grasped the concept of the customer is always right yet. Even in local branches, when there is a large amount people there in line for the cashiers, they still close one cashiers desk when it is their break time, unlike BOV which usually open up a side desk to lessen the waiting time (in the Rabat branch).
However, one must be careful as the clerks doing the transaction are not always competent to say the least. I know of cases abroad were for the same transaction amounting to the same sum was overcharged charged €15.
I suppose that this can happen even in Malta! One must always put pressure on banks and ask for tariffs, why and how, and compare between banks and bank branches.