Banks support stimulating non-cash payments, but do not agree with changing commission limits for bank transfers between individuals.
The President of the Association of Banks of Moldova, Dorel Noroc, stated this at a hearing organized by the Parliament on the draft Law on Cash Payments, which is being prepared for approval in the second reading. He noted that banks in Moldova generally support the stimulation of non-cash payments: in the digital era, many companies, non-profit organizations and citizens have switched to non-cash payments - it is simple, convenient and safe. According to the Association of Banks of Moldova, in 2017-2023 the volume of non-cash payments increased from 8.9 billion to 60.1 billion lei - from 18% to 40% of the total volume of payments. However, the initiated bill contains a number of restrictive or unclear measures. One of them is the limitation of commissions or other payments charged by banks for transactions between individuals - to 0.1% of the transfer amount, including when withdrawing cash. Dorel Noroc noted that today for transactions from one bank account to another bank account, the maximum commission is 20 lei, regardless of the amount paid, regardless of the purpose of the transfer - to buy an apartment or a car, etc. And if the operation is carried out through a banking application, the commission amount is a maximum of 10 lei. “We do not consider it appropriate to introduce a limit of 0.1%. This significantly exceeds the commission currently set by the NBM. Ideally, this article should be excluded from the bill, or at least stated in the document that the maximum size of this commission is established by the National Bank,” said Dorel Noroc. The Association of Banks explained that the project offers a maximum limit of 0.1% of the transaction amount, for example, when transferring 1,500,000 lei for the purchase of real estate, the maximum commission will be 1,500 lei, and this is significantly higher than the limit established by the NBM (20 lei). Another critical aspect concerns the withdrawal of funds. “This commission creates losses for banks, since they pay the NBM a much higher commission for cash. However, banks cannot limit the amount received from these transactions. And bank accounts can have different sources of income - sale of real estate, cars, salary. The bank cannot distinguish between these amounts,” said Dorel Noroc. The President of the Association of Banks of Moldova also believes that some provisions of the document provide for an increase in the bureaucratic burden on both banks and companies. For example, it is not clear how to implement the rules of minimum cash requirements within an enterprise. They stipulate that companies are required to annually establish a minimum cash requirement for settlements within 3 business days, which will cover the costs of cash transactions. And another provision of the draft obliges persons who received funds in settlement to submit a report to the entity’s accounting department with supporting documents attached about the amounts used. “We need to decide whether we are engaged in digitalization or bureaucratization,” noted Dorel Noroc, calling on the Ministry of Finance and the authors of the project to hear the business before the project is approved and put into operation. Recall that the draft Law on Cash Payments was approved by the Parliament in the first reading at a meeting on February 1. // 08.02.2024 – InfoMarket
