Personal Finance readers can claim a small victory today. As a result of your reaction to our report that Nedbank was penalising its clients for making mistakes at its ATMs, the bank has partially backed off.
Personal Finance revealed last week that Nedbank was charging a R1,14 "denial fee" when clients made mistakes on its ATMs.
Both Nedbank and Personal Finance received a barrage of complaints.
Last week Nedcor's head of electronic banking Colin Wheater said that the denial fee had been implemented for your convenience.
"Denied transactions inconvenience other clients who are standing in the queue waiting to use that particular ATM," he said.
Penalised mistakes included entering an incorrect pin number, a request denied due to insufficient funds or a request denied because it exceeds the daily limit set by the bank.
Nedbank now says it plans to reduce the charges "to make them more acceptable to clients". The changes include:
* You will not be charged if you mistakenly attempt to withdraw an amount larger than your daily limit;
* The penalty charge on every incorrect entry of a PIN number has been dropped but if you make the mistake three times your card will be "swallowed" and simultaneously you will be charged the "denial fee". "The majority of ATM users are aware of the fact that, for security reasons, ATM cards are swallowed on the third attempt - this will only affect a small percentage of persons," Wheater said.
For attempts to withdraw funds when you have insufficient funds, the bank remains steadfast - the charge will remain in place.
"The biggest portion of the unsuccessful transactions can be attributed to insufficient funds in the account," said Wheater.
He advised clients, if they are not sure of their balance, to make use of the balance enquiry facility which is available free of charge.