Banks must not exploit with fees, minister says

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The Customs and Trade Ministry finds some online operation fees by banks high. Hürriyet photo

Turkish banks should explain the sharp increase in their non-interest revenues over the last decade, Trade and Customs Minister Hayati Yazıcı said yesterday, calling on lenders not to implement fees at an exploitative level.

“The banks have 31 revenue sources apart from interest rate incomes, some of which are unfair,” Yazıcı said at a breakfast hosted by the ministry in Istanbul.

Such revenues constitute up to as much as 13 percent of the lenders’ revenues today, up from a mere 3 percent 10 years ago, the minister said. “They should have a justification for this,” he said.

Yazıcı said studies into the issue were not aimed at lifting all of these 31 sources and it was normal for banks to earn from the services they provided, adding that various parties had come a long way in talks on the issue.

“Everyone should get [fees] in return for the services they provide, but this should not turn into exploitation. This is where our concern lies,” he said.

A portion of the increase in fees in banking operations was related to the lender’s efforts to direct customers to online applications, the minister admitted, but he also stressed that customers were also facing fees in online operations.

Inspections are necessary in order to bring such revenue under 10 percent, Yazıcı added.