With increasingly tight pockets, Argentines will continue to face several increases in the second quarter of the year. Nowbanks have started communicating different types of adjustmentsboth for product bundle fees and for fees charged for late credit card payments.
By law, Institutions are required to inform their customers 60 days in advance. the price changes they bring to the services they offer. Therefore, towards the end of 2023, several institutions announced adjustments to their costs that have impacted the first months of this year.
Now a new round of announcements begins. He Santander Bank This week it informed its customers of the increases which will take effect from 1 April. Adjustments exceed 90% and they range from the cost of maintaining a current account, which ranges from 2,780 dollars a month to 5,420 dollars a month, to the “black” package, used by groups with higher incomes. In this case the package will go from the current $33,395 per month to $65,120.
The last time the entity increased its prices was in January this year, with increases of around 50%. In January also the BBVA had increased its fees, but the entity did not respond when the next adjustment would occur. New prices have also been in force since February for Banco Galicia customers: the cost of the Eminnet package, even the one used by the highest deciles, has risen to $39,000 since the beginning of this month.
Another that will also increase its costs from next April is the digital bank Brubank. With a 100% mobile model, the entity does not have a physical branch network, which means its costs are lower. For example, the cost of maintaining an international Visa credit card will, after this announcement, be $4,800 per month.
The increase will be felt in the cost of cash withdrawals at ATMs: as announced by Brubank, it will go from the current $750 per transaction to $1,500 in April. A 100% increase.
Despite the DNU, payroll accounts continue to be subsidized
One of the changes contained in the titanic decree of necessity and urgency presented by Javier Milei at the end of December was the end of the free accounts to which workers credit their salaries.
The wording of the Work Chapter opened up the possibility for employees to choose to collect their salary in virtual wallets and omitted the detail on the gratuity that regulates the accounts associated with income in banks, ranging from maintenance costs to associated expenses. cash withdrawal.
After the setback that this chapter had in Justice, when the judges of the Federal Chamber of Labor annulled chapter 4 of the DNU, this advantage remains intact.
More increases from the DNU
Parallel to this news on increases in the prices of packages and services offered to customers, banks have begun to communicate that starting from April late payments with credit cards will become more expensive.
The fact is that, starting from the Decree presented by the president in December, the maximum ceiling of 50% on punitive tariffs has been eliminated, i.e. those that apply daily when not even the minimum summary payment is paid. To calculate the debt, so-called compensatory interest is added to this interestwhich are those who run on the difference between the amount paid and the summary total.
So, while the government tests the feasibility of the DNU in Congress, banks have already rushed to inform their customers about these new unlimited interests that could be charged. Each entity can choose the rate to apply. Some have already warned that if the customer does not agree to these adjustments, they “may terminate the contract”.
Source: Clarin
