BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s central bank said on Friday that it would lower payment fees for small firms from September 30, including for bank account services, yuan settlement and electronic banking.
China has vowed repeatedly to keep supporting small businesses, and continue targeted tax and fee cuts this year in the wake of the pandemic.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will also reduce interbank ATM fees, PBOC said in a statement on its website.
In total, the fee reductions are estimated to be worth 24 billion yuan ($3.72 billion) per year, it added in a joint statement with the country’s banking regulator, market regulator and state planner.
Banks should not charge more than 3.5 yuan per transaction for the interbank ATM fees, to better support and serve the increased migrant population, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) said in separate statement on Friday.
Cross-region interbank ATM fees will be lowered too, it said, with lower fees better satisfying people’s needs for cash, and enhancing accessibility for financial consumers, it added.
($1 = 6.4533 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Stella Qiu, Cheng Leng and Ryan Woo; Editing by Gareth Jones)
