no frills accounts

first we have no frills airline, and now we are going to have no frills accounts in bank.
(notice the opening line of the star’s article stated “…offer no-frills savings and current accounts to enable all, especially the poor, to enjoy basic banking services.” poor also got money to keep in bank? maybe they meant poor people like me. 🙂 )

yep, bank negara had issued a new ruling for all commercial banks and financial instituions to follow come 1st feb. you may view the new ruling here.

these no frills accounts will be known as basic savings account (BSA) and basic current accounts (BCA).

hurray! now poor people like me can get a chance to issue out my own personal cheque since the minimum amount for opening current account is RM500.00.

i wonder why the charges for replacing ATM card is not dropped. me the careless one, always misplaced (or make it defective) my ATM card and i notice that the replacement charges was RM8 quite expensive if you asked me. why can’t it be just a minimum charge like RM2 or RM3.

anyway, it’s not too sure if existing accounts will come under this new ruling as it was stated in the bank negara website, “the public is advised to contact their banking institutions to determine whether their existing accounts qualify as BSA and BCA and the procedures for opening new BSA and BCA accounts.”

if our existing accounts does not qualify as BSA or BCA, does that means the banks can continue to impose silly bank charges on us? and if we want to qualify for the new ruling, does this means we have to close our present account and open a new account (BSA or BCA)? but then charges will be impose on the closing and opening?

why the new ruling only focus on saving accounts and current accounts? what about other banking services like applying for bank draft, traveller’s cheque, telegraphic transfer, etc.

i remember once i order a book from australia, of which the price in australian dollar was $12. since i’m a poor person with no cheque or credit card, i had to pay via bank draft in bank, and i was shocked to notice that the bank charges was so exorbitant! couldn’t remember how much but i remember after the conversion and the charges, i had to pay about RM80! imagine! if i bought it in australia at australian $12, convert to malaysian ringgit, it would be only around RM30, right?

since we are talking about banks, i would like to point out that of all the banks i deal with (with my own accounts, my mum’s accounts, my office’s accounts), i like public bank the best. they are very efficient and their service is very fast. and i now pay most of my bills via public bank online… easy to use.