Maybank Group, the country's largest banking entity, has indefinitely shelved its proposal to levey a RM12 annual access fee for its Internet banking facility Maybank2u.com, initially slated for implementation last Dec 20.

Its contact centre had been flooded with thousands of e-mails last month, protesting the charge as an unfair and unreasonable move, following the introduction of free Internet banking services in 2000.

In a notice dated Dec 17 on its website, Maybank claimed to be "currently undertaking a comprehensive study of all your feedback".

"And in view of this, we are putting on hold the implementation of the subscription fee for all Maybank2u.com users as announced earlier," the notice read.

The bank said it has been closely monitoring customers' views since notice of implementation was posted on the website on Nov 12.

"We note from your responses that Maybank2u.com is a highly popular and valued service as it offers tremendous benefits as well as convenience to our customers," the notice added.

The public outcry prompted opposition party DAP to send a protest memorandum to Bank Negara Governor Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz demanding for stricter monitoring and enforcement of laws governing the banking industry in order to protect consumer rights.

Online petition

An online petition took off soon after and, within a few weeks, garnered over 20,000 signatures. The organiser, Rizam Zamri, has pledged to continue with the e-signature campaign.

In e-mail communication with malaysiakini, he said Maybank has ignored the issue of charging 50 sen per transaction, from the 5th ATM transaction onwards.
However, he will be re-organising his strategy together with a few people from various parts of the country whom he 'met' via the online petition.

"When you deal with a company this big and (the) well-known Malaysian spirit of hangat-hangat tahi ayam (initial enthusiasm which soon cools), I assure you (that) they had expected consumers to disagree," he said, referring to consultants hired to plan and execute the decision.

"I also believe this is only a temporary measure to 'cool' the customers down."

He said this was reminiscent of many social issues where the parties concerned would call for a temporary reprieve claiming to "look into the matter" the minute they face public criticism and disgruntled customers.

"But later on, nothing (changes) except the date of implementation," he noted.

Rizam said the campaign must go on despite Maybank's announcement to shelve the implementation of the annual access fee.

"That's why I just can't stop...(I have a) responsibility to the 20,000-strong signatories and (to) many more who until now do not know they are being charged 50 sen (for additional ATM transactions)."

Limited reach

Rizal said he was happy with the response, especially after hitting 4,000 signatures in just two days, and that he is convinced consumers are using available channels to show their dissatisfaction.

"It makes me (even more) proud to be a Malaysian as all races (came) together for a common social issue," he said.

A report in the New Straits Times on Dec 26 quoted him as saying that he regretted the limited reach of the online petition to only those who had access to the Internet.

Rizam, said to be an IT teacher in a secondary school in Perlis, said the petition started off as an e-mail alerting his circle of friends of the impending charge for Maybank2u.com but went on to gather public support.

On Dec 4, Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister S Veerasingam said all banks have been asked to furnish details of charges for conventional and online banking services.