Johannesburg - Standard Bank has drawn criticism from customers by announcing a fee of R17.50 on overdrafts, whether or not the facility is used.
The major problem is not the fee itself, which was announced in a letter dated December 2006 and came into force on January 1. Although some customers resent being charged for a facility they do not use, the bank could reasonably argue they are paying for the convenience: they have an overdraft immediately available should they need it.
The problem is that people who have not asked for a facility are finding out for the first time that they have one - and are being charged for something they neither need nor want.
Jeff Rudin of Cape Town said he was told by his branch that the facility was automatically granted to current account holders and, if he wanted to cancel it, he would have to do so in writing. When he pointed out that he had not asked for it - let alone submitted a written request - he was allowed to cancel it by phone.
Rudin, who received the letter only on Monday, described the fee as "punishment" for not using the overdraft facility.
Roy Soanes of Johannesburg denied he had ever applied for an overdraft, and described the charge for unused facilities as a form of pressure.
Standard Bank spokesperson Erik Larsen said that the fee replaced "the overdraft ledger fee of R20.40", which was charged if a customer's account was overdrawn by a minimum of R100 for a period of five days or more in the month.
The other three big banks said they did not grant facilities without a request.
"If the customer requests or accepts an overdraft facility, we charge an annual fee of about 1 percent of the overdraft limit," said Xolisa Vapi, the head of corporate communications at First National Bank.
Saks Ntombela, the managing director for transactional and investment products at Nedbank, said: "The only fee that is levied is an honouring fee where clients exceed their credit limit, which is common industry practice."
Deon Oosthuizen of Absa media relations said the bank charged a monthly ledger fee of R18 if clients used the overdraft facility for five or more consecutive days.
Banks have been under fire for pressing unsolicited credit on consumers, and they have been accused of pushing credit ahead of restrictions that will come into force with the National Credit Act in June.
Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni has repeatedly expressed concern about the fact that household debt is more than 70 percent of disposable income and credit extension is growing at more than 25 percent a year. Last year the bank raised its official repo rate by 2 percentage points to 9 percent, pushing prime and mortgage rates to 12.5 percent.
But customers continue to borrow, often recklessly, and banks are perceived to be actively encouraging them.
Now it seems Standard Bank is not only pressing credit on people who have not asked for it, but also charging them for the privilege.