Customers are shocked by the surge in SMS Banking fees.

(NLĐO) - Many people were surprised to receive notifications from banks charging hundreds of thousands of dong for balance change notifications via text message.

Several BIDV bank customers have reported to the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper that they recently received a notification about the BSMS Banking fee (fee for balance change notifications via SMS) for October, with a significantly higher rate compared to previous months.

Ms. Ngoc Hanh (residing in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) said that in previous months, the BSMS Banking fee was less than 10,000 VND, so she didn't pay attention to it. A few days ago, she was surprised to receive a notification from BIDV charging a BSMS fee of over 100,000 VND.

"Many cashless payment transactions, even those worth only a few tens of thousands of dong or less than 10,000 dong, are charged 700 dong per message, which is too high," said Ms. Hanh.

Similarly, Ms. Huynh Thanh (residing in Binh Chanh district) also expressed her confusion upon receiving a BSMS fee notification from BIDV, which amounted to 135,000 VND, significantly higher than in previous months.

The fee schedule announced by BIDV will be applied from the beginning of October 2024.

On November 20th, the significantly increased SMS fees for BIDV account holders were a hot topic of discussion on forums and social media. Many users reported receiving notifications that they would be charged a maximum of 700 VND per SMS message when they sent 15 or more messages per month per subscriber.

Many online sellers are concerned that if the BSMS fee is as high as the new fee schedule, the total cost for processing hundreds of transactions each month will be enormous.

According to our investigation, since the beginning of October 2024, BIDV has adjusted its service fee schedule for account balance change notifications to "align with the fee adjustment roadmap for SMS banking services of telecommunications providers and according to market practices; empowering each customer to proactively choose services that suit their actual needs."

Banks encourage customers to receive balance change notifications through their digital banking apps to get free service.

Specifically, if customers receive balance change notifications via BIDV SmartBanking (OTT message), it will be free. Receiving balance change notifications via BSMS is free for premium customers; for regular customers, it is 10,000 VND/subscriber/month for messages under 15. For 15 messages or more, the fee will be calculated based on the actual number of messages sent, at 700 VND/SMS.

Along with increasing BSMS Banking fees, BIDV also encourages customers to receive free notifications on its digital banking application (OTT messages) via BIDV SmartBanking.

Previously, a number of commercial banks such as Eximbank, Vietcombank, Sacombank, VPBank,ACB , OCB, Nam A Bank… had announced changes to their SMS fee policies.

Instead of charging a fixed monthly fee per account/subscriber as before, these banks have switched to charging based on the actual number of messages sent each month. Typically, customers who send fewer than 15-20 messages per month/subscriber are charged a fixed fee of 10,000 VND; above this amount, the fee is calculated per message at 700 VND, excluding VAT.

Register/Change/Cancel services on BIDV SmartBanking

1️⃣ Step 1: Access the BIDV SmartBanking App/select the "Register for service" option.

2️⃣ Step 2: Select Balance Changes => BSMS Service => Unsubscribe.

3️⃣ Step 3: Enter the OTP code to verify and complete the cancellation of your registration.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/khach-hang-ta-hoa-vi-phi-sms-banking-tang-vot-196241120185956696.htm