BoG in talks to halt ‘Account Maintenance’ fees of Banks, SDIs - Sources

The Bank of Ghana is in talks with stakeholders in the banking sector to halt the practice where Banks and Special Deposit-Taking Institutions in the country charge fees for customers “Account Maintenance”.

This is according to persons familiar with the matter at the central bank.

The move when finalised will however exclude banks and SDIs that provide prior subscription to customers.

On the back of this, a 2020 fourth-quarter survey of Bank Charges conducted by the Bank of Ghana showed that some 19 out of 23 universal banks impose account maintenance fees on current accounts of customers per month.

Per the survey, the Bank of Africa, GCB Bank, FBN and UBA are the only banks that do not impose services charges for maintenance of current accounts every month.

The survey further showed that customers of Societe Generale Ghana, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana and Zenith Bank Ghana require an initial deposit of GH¢100 for opening a savings account while that for First National Bank, GT Bank and Omni BSIC customers did not require an initial deposit for opening a savings account.

It added that consumers will need to keep a minimum operating balance of GH¢100 at Standard Chartered Bank and GH¢50 for Barclays Bank Ghana, Fidelity Bank Ghana, GCB Bank, Republic Bank Ghana, Societe Generale Ghana and Stanbic Bank Ghana respectively.