The simple thought of opening a bank account can get complicated by the innumerable kinds of fees &
charges attached to each type of account. Therefore, thoroughly examining the costs attached to each
type of bank account becomes extremely important before settling on a particular type of account for
oneself. Needless to say, opening a bank account is a cakewalk, but to decide exactly which account to
open, needs to be considered in great detail.
Every bank usually issues a ‘Schedule of Fees’ that comes into effect on the date prescribed and stays
in effect until the date stated by the bank. This schedule lays down the numerous kinds of charges and
fees that the bank levies on the account, the transactions that take place through it, and various other
allied matters and services.
This article will give you a proper understanding of such fees and charges. Note that these charges are
not the same for every bank in the United Arab Emirates. Each bank has its policy and schedule of fees
that it issues from time to time, which is accordingly referred to by the prospective and existing clients.
So, let’s begin!
1. Fall Below Fee:
Every bank requires a certain amount of funds to be maintained in the account as ‘minimum balance’,
for most types of accounts. However, there are certain accounts where such minimum balance is not to
be maintained by the account holder, but those are exceptional cases only. When such minimum
balance is not maintained, meaning thereby that the funds go below the designated limit, then the bank
charges a certain amount of fee called the ‘fall below fee’. These fees also differ in value according to
the type of account chosen.
2. Relationship Fee:
Most of the banks have relationship-based pricing/fees so while some banks may charge on an
individual account level, other banks would on an overall relationship maintained with the bank.
3. Statement Charges:
An account statement is essentially a summary of all the transactions, both incoming (Credit) and
outgoing (Debit), that take place during a certain period. A monthly statement is often auto-generated
and issued to the account holders. Most banks issue such monthly account statements usually free of
cost.
While some banks do not charge for the issuance of monthly statements to any of its account holders.
However, when it comes to the manual issuance of account statements then banks tend to charge at
least a minimal amount.
4. Cheque Services’ Charges
Each bank issues a cheque book for the account holder to conveniently transact. There are various
types of costs associated with cheque books, such as the clearing charges, the collection charges, and
so on. The first cheque book is usually issued free of cost by almost all the banks globally. However, is
one wants an additional cheque book, then they would have to pay certain charges for it. For an
additional cheque book, most banks charge depending on the number of leaves issued i.e. 10/25/50
leaves.
In addition to this, the local cheque clearing is usually done free of cost but special clearing is
chargeable. Further, if a customer needs a copy of any old cheque, then that is chargeable as well, with
the charges differing with each bank.
5. Debit Cards
The trend that you may have already observed by now is that the first issuance of all things
complementary with an account is usually free of cost. So, going by the same trend, the issuance of the
first debit card is offered free of cost by the banks. A debit card replacement, on the other hand, is
chargeable. This debit card replacement takes place in cases where the card is either lost, stolen, or
damaged.
In addition to that, the usage fee at ATM’s depends on which ATM one is going to. If the ATM is of
the same bank that issued the card, then there are no charges. However, if the ATM is of some other
bank, charges may apply.
6. Credit Cards
Credit cards are issued to those holding a current or a corporate account/ business account in a bank
because they have the most frequently done transactions. For credit cards, banks charge a fee as
finance fees, cash advances, and credit card loans. Additionally, there is an over-limit fee that is also
charged by the banks depending on the usage.
7. Maintenance fee and Remittances
Banks charge a monthly account maintenance fee which differs from bank to bank and from account to
account.
For remittance services, the banks charging model could vary from a fixed percentage of the amount
remitted to a flat fee depending on the currency and type of account.
All these details need to be carefully examined before selecting a bank account and need to be kept in
mind while operating the same.
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