BOT fee overhaul to cut bank income by 5bn baht
Thailand’s central bank is revising 19 financial service fees to lower costs for households and SMEs while standardising bank charges
BOT targets 19 bank fees in system-wide overhaul
The Bank of Thailand (BOT) is moving ahead with a major overhaul of financial service fees across the banking system, covering 19 fee items in four main groups as part of an effort to lower costs for the public and small and medium-sized enterprises.
BOT governor Vitai Ratanakorn said the central bank had issued a new announcement to enforce a revised fee structure across the banking sector.
The new framework is intended to create common standards, reduce unnecessary financial burdens and ensure that service fees better reflect banks’ actual costs.
He said many financial service charges no longer match current operating costs, particularly as technology has transformed banking services.
Some fees were introduced when banks carried high infrastructure costs, but those costs have now fallen sharply or, in some cases, almost disappeared while certain charges have remained unchanged or varied widely between financial institutions.
The BOT said the aim is not to place an additional burden on commercial banks, but to create a fairer balance between service providers and users, especially retail customers and SMEs, who generally have less bargaining power than large corporate clients.
Four fee groups brought under new standards
The revised rules cover four main areas: deposit account fees, electronic card fees, payment transaction fees and SME loan-related fees.
For deposit accounts, the BOT is setting new standards for bank statement requests.
Electronic statements will be provided free of charge, while paper-based requests will be subject to clearer fee ceilings.
The new framework also covers financial status certificates and account maintenance fees for inactive deposit accounts with balances below the required level.
For electronic cards, the changes include entrance fees and annual fees for basic ATM and debit cards, as well as charges for cash withdrawals using credit cards.
The BOT said these charges should be made fairer and less burdensome for consumers.
Payment transactions are another major area of reform.
In the past, cross-zone transactions carried costs linked to system connections or dedicated lines, giving banks grounds to charge additional fees.
Today, digital technology has significantly reduced such costs, prompting the BOT to set new standards for fees related to deposits, withdrawals, transfers, cheque deposits, payments for goods and services, and transfers through the Bahtnet system.
SME borrowers expected to benefit
The BOT also plans to revise several fees linked to SME loans, including credit-use fees, credit line renewal fees, extensions for credit drawdown periods and early repayment fees.
Vitai said reducing these charges could significantly ease the burden on smaller business operators, who often face multiple types of fees when seeking or using credit.
The new rules are intended to give SMEs clearer, more consistent access to loans at more appropriate costs.
The central bank expects the full set of fee reductions to reduce banking industry income by no more than around 5 billion baht per year.
Vitai said the figure applies to the industry as a whole, not any single bank.
When compared with the sector’s overall annual earnings of more than 200 billion baht, the expected impact would be around 1.5-2% of total performance, a level the banking system should be able to absorb.
He added that while the amount represents lost income for financial institutions, the benefit would go directly to ordinary customers and SMEs, the groups most affected by fee ceilings and clearer service standards.
The new rules will begin taking effect from the day after they are published in the Royal Gazette, with implementation to be phased in and completed by October 2026.
