It’s the end of the month! Everyone is waiting for the sms telling them that their accounts have been credited with their salaries.
I recently got a loan from a bank, let’s call it Bank A. Initially, my salary used to be transferred to Bank B, which was the same as my employer’s, so I didn’t pay transfer fees. One of the conditions of the loan was that the company I work for has to transfer my salary to Bank A directly every month, i’m guessing as a guarantee.
I got the sms telling me that my salary had been transferred minus 13 dollars.
Customer service at both banks told me the 13$ are split as follows:
– 10$ transfer fee from Bank B to Bank A
– 3$ receiving fee for Bank A
Apparently the 13$ is a flat rate, doesn’t matter if you are transferring 500$ or 5,000$.
I wouldn’t mind paying this rate if I was getting a service for it, but 3$ for receiving the money? Really??
The Lebanese banking system is too expensive! They have all sorts of hidden fees, a dollar here, a dollar there, and you can’t really argue with them. If you want to deposit dollars in your account you have to wait 7 days until it gets credited. If you want to deposit checks, you have to wait 4 days.
Banks take all this money and they don’t offer services that make the customer’s lifes easier.
“We have online banking”
Online banking my ass…
You can’t do anything online, you can only see your bank account. You can’t transfer money other than your credit card account (because you give money back to the bank). When you call them, they always ask you to go to a branch to sort things out.
“We need your signature”. That’s the excuse I always hear. Isn’t it enough that I am accessing my bank account online with my customer number and secret code? Nooooo, you have to go down to the branch for a retinal scan to make sure it’s you! Make sure you bring a copy of your birth certificate and a dozen passport photos!
All Lebanese banks have beautiful websites promoting piece of mind, customer service, personalized service, immediate access to your money, easy loans… It’s all crap! The only way you’ll get all of this is if you know someone who is well placed at the bank.
Talking about getting a loan, do you know how much paperwork is involved in getting a loan??? OMG! I must’ve signed my name about a hundred times, in the end my signature looked like a doodle.
Instead of spending millions of dollars on hardware and software to block VoIP, maybe the government should spend some money on modernizing the banking system!
can you name the banks and not make us guess? I don’t want to do business with them.
welcome to lebolanddddd
imagine for online banking i payed 5000 ll(3.33$) to have access
back in canada it was for free
ne way that is how they make their money the banks
all kinds of hiddenn fees
I KNOW RIGHT? my bank takes 7$ from my salary each month!!!
Try withdrawing money from a Lebanese bank using a foreign ATM card, they take 10% of the amount between currency conversion and fees.
i don’t think i’ve ever had to sign my name so many times as when i opened my lebanese bank account. it was at least 20 signatures, maybe more. why??!
Most of it is due to our central bank regulations that forbids banks to invest in high return risky financial instruments more than a certain percentage of our total deposits and that made retail banking a big source of income for most banks … Those regulations also saved our asses during the financial crisis in 2008.( positive side)
But you’re right there s even more hidden commissions and fees we sometimes don’t know about it in some banks and thats very wrong …
Is Bank A Audi and Bank B Byblos? :p
Hehe, close close, but not exactly