Published statements from First Capital Bank plc, Standard Bank plc, NBS Bank plc and National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc have announced various upward adjustments on services, which in response, Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) executive director John Kapito said the banks fees are not only burdensome to customers, the fees are also stumbling to banking.

For instance, an NBM customer will have to pay K11 100 for a 50-paged cheque book, up from K9 800 last year while NBS Bank plc current account customers will have to part with K10 500 for a 50-paged cheque book from K9 600. On the other hand, NBS Bank savings account owners will be paying K5 000 per page for an account statement up from K4 600.

“The fees that we pay banks in numerous ways to access various products and services brings down the appetite for saving with banks.” said Kapito, whose words resound those from the Credit Awareness Week, where it was outlined that due to many reasons, people do not rely on banks. On the other hand, Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry has also bemoaned the high cost of borrowing.