A recent survey has found that South Africa has the highest ATM withdrawal fees out of a group of 27 countries which includes the likes of the United Kingdom and the USA.

The survey, conducted by management consulting firm Accenture, found that:

A transaction in South Africa cost nearly R16.75…[and that] the country also had the highest withdrawal fees of R38.44.

This compares rather bleakly with other countries on list, 18 of which charge nothing for ATM withdrawals, and 14 which did not charge for branch withdrawals. Still, the survey found that 38% of South African consumers were happy with their main bank, two percentage points above the global average.

SA came in at eighth place for credit cards and was among only 10 of the countries that offered free debit-card transactions at some banks.

Vinolan Pillay, an executive for banking at Accenture, said the latter trends are part of the country’s progression to “fiercer competition and increased transparency”.

Recent banking price wars in South Africa resulted from calls for transparency around pricing and heated competition in the banking industry.

[Source: Fin24]