Already from January 1. new requirements for banks come into force, and as a result, service rates will also change. The representatives of the banks named what changes will be made and how much the residents will have to pay. In addition, other innovations that will be available to bank customers were also discussed.
The news portal tv3.lt previously wrote that important changes to legal acts will come into effect next year, with the aim of improving the availability of services and reducing prices for residents.
Representatives of banks operating in Lithuania named what will change next year and how much residents will have to pay for different services.
What do residents need to know?
"Swedbank" representative Gytis Vercinskas told the news portal tv3.lt that more favorable conditions for the provision of services to private customers will enter into force next year.
"Taking into account the changes in legislation, we will make changes to the service plan "Main payment account service", the interviewer said.
The bank's representative states that the monthly fee for the service plan will amount to 1 euro per month. (currently 1,37 euros per month). The monthly fee for the service plan for persons with social support will be 0,50 euros per month. (currently EUR 0,68 per month).
And the maximum amount of cash that can be dispensed at Swedbank and Bankomatas.lt network ATMs without an additional fee will reach 800 euros per month. (currently 550 euros per month).
The number of online credit transfers to European or European Economic Area countries will reach 15 (currently 10) without an additional fee.
"After assessing the needs of customers, we will reduce the fee for issuing a certificate about the assets and liabilities of a deceased person at the bank to 10 euros (currently 14,48 euros).
We will no longer apply the monthly administration fee for the contactless Mastercard WEB card of the Youth Program, which was previously applied if the client was no longer a participant of the Youth Program", said G. Vercinskas.
The bank also promises to change other currently applied taxes due to the Cash Settlements Rounding of Amounts Act.
For example, for printing account statements in departments, the printing fee for one day's statement will be 0,25 euros (currently 0,29 euros), and the printing fee for a year's statement will be 11,55 euros (currently 11,58 euros).
"The fee for sending documents by regular mail will be reduced from 0,58 euros per page to 0,55 euros per page.
The fee for the preparation of certificates on opened and closed accounts will be reduced from EUR 5,79 or EUR 11,58 to EUR 5,75 or EUR 11,55, respectively. The preparation of other certificates will cost 14,45 euros per certificate (currently 14,48 euros)", said G. Vercinskas.
Change cards
Indrė Baltrušaitienė, head of communications at Luminor Bank, said that customers will not only see changes on January 1.
"From January 1 we will change the conditions of the main payment account service: we will reduce the monthly fee of the service from 1,37 euros to 1 euro, we will increase the cash withdrawal limit of the Visa Debit card included in the service from Luminor ATMs in the Baltic States and Medus ATMs in Lithuania to 800 euros per month , we will increase the number of free internet bank transfers to 15 per month.
From February 1 we will simplify the Luminor Black basket - we will include only one Luminor Black payment card, which best matches the purpose and value of the basket," said I. Baltrušaitienė.
According to her, the currency exchange fee for non-euro payments with the Luminor Black card will also be reduced - 3 percent. up to 2,45 percent (from the payment amount).
However, the currency exchange fee for non-euro Visa Debit card payments will increase - from 2,45 percent. up to 2,65 percent (from the payment amount)
"For visually impaired customers, we will issue or replace Digipass 750 VC specially adapted access code generators free of charge."
Well, the debit card, which is mostly used for daily payments, has increased the cash withdrawal limit, the amount of free transfers in the internet bank, and added additional benefits," she said.
More changes are planned from next year, so new cards will be issued.
"In order to ensure greater accessibility and reduce the impact on the environment, next year we will change all newly issued payment cards to 95 percent. recycled plastic raw material cards", said the interviewer.
The new Luminor Black cards, and later Luminor Debit cards, are said to feature a special design feature, the so-called bend, which, through its physical properties, lets users know it's a bank payment card and helps them to orient themselves on which side to insert the card into the ATM. or card reader.
"Although this solution will primarily help the blind and partially sighted, it will also be relevant for everyone who wants to recognize the card more easily and ensure its smooth use in any conditions, for example, in poor lighting conditions," commented I. Baltrušaitienė.
New services have appeared
Member of SEB bank's board and head of the Retail Banking Service, Eglė Dovbyšienė told the news portal tv3.lt that currently customers have already been sent reminders about the changes that are expected from next year.
"Updated service plans have been available to customers since April of this year. Despite the fact that customers can still use the old plans until the beginning of 2025, 120 thousand are already using the updated plans. private and 10 thousand business customers.
Updated service plans are not news to our customers, we put a lot of effort into presenting these changes to customers, they had a lot of time to familiarize themselves with them, so currently we hardly receive any questions from customers about the changes that will come into effect from January", said E. Dovbyšienė.
According to the representative of the bank, from April 9 of this year. SEB Bank has updated service plans for residents - new services have appeared, and the cash withdrawal limit has also been increased.
"Updated service plans differ in their content, new and/or expanded services, they are structured differently, so they cannot be compared with previously valid bank plans. Updated service plans for private customers start at 0 euros per month. up to 7 euros per month," she said.
E. Dovbyšienė names the most important changes in service plans:
- the higher the amount to be cashed out. Depending on the chosen plan, customers can use from 600 euros per month. (plan "Youth", "Daily") up to 2 thousand EUR per month (Premium plan) cash withdrawal limit by debit card;
- service plans have been supplemented with a new free service for customers - instant injury insurance. It will cover all unexpected emergencies that require an emergency room visit;
- new free service - purchase insurance. Customers with a service plan with a credit card will be able to use not only travel insurance, but also purchase insurance by paying only the service plan fee;
- young customers (children and youth) with a service plan that includes an unlimited number of transfers and accounts, up to 600 euros per month. cash limit, will use for free.
"We would like to draw your attention to the fact that we have not increased the fees of the current SEB bank service plans for private customers since their creation in 2012 (more than a decade).
Customers can also always choose a service plan corresponding to the service basket of the main payment account of the Bank of Lithuania - in SEB bank, this is the "Minimalus" plan, he said.
At that time, Julius Ivaška, director of the Business Service of URBO banka, clarified to the tv3.lt news portal that there are currently no plans to increase rates.
“However, we plan to review them as new service baskets are planned. They will be used for a new URBO product - bank cards.
We plan to present them to customers in 2025. Currently, the implementation project of the bank card service and the analysis of its functionality are underway. The pricing of the planned service is being prepared and has not yet been confirmed", said J. Ivaška.
And the head of Šiaulių bankas private customer services dr. Dalios Kolmatsui commented to the tv3.lt news portal that in the near future the service fee for bank customers will decrease or remain the same.
"From January 2025, 1, the monthly commission of the main payment account will decrease to 1 euro, and it will reach 0,50 euro for persons receiving social assistance.
Currently, the commission is 1,47 euros and 0,73 euros, respectively. It is also worth noting that starting next year, the free monthly cash withdrawal limit at ATMs of the Medus and Bankomatas.lt networks will increase. It increases to 800 euros per month, currently the limit is 550 euros per month," the interviewer said.
Not all representatives of the Lithuanian Banks Association are talking about the closure of bank branches. They have previously discussed with the politicians of the previous term about the problem of closed bank branches in smaller cities of Lithuania.
In fact, at that time the president of the Lithuanian Banks Association (LBA) Eivilė Čipkutė admitted to the politicians that changes have been taking place for many years, and also named the main reason for the closing of bank branches in the districts.
"We have been observing this changing trend in the nature of financial services for a couple of decades. And the main factor is the digitization of the economy and, as a result, the changing habits of society, that is, the use of live services is falling sharply and the vast majority are switching to digital services. <…>
Last year, 62 percent residents answered that they had never visited a bank branch during the year. We see exactly the same trends when looking at how residents use banking services on the Internet, e-mail. in banking. This number increased from 5 to 70 percent in 90 years. population. Departments are also decreasing accordingly, as their attendance is falling. This is the main reason", explained E. Čipkutė.
However, the closing of bank branches causes great inconvenience to the elderly population, especially those of retirement age.
Representatives of "Swedbank" and "Luminor" banks are not yet talking about closing other branches in different cities of Lithuania next year.
And SEB representatives say that starting this autumn in Lithuanian municipalities where there is no SEB bank branch, a mobile team of bank employees will provide information about different services.
The services are provided at a periodicity agreed between the bank and the municipalities in premises offered by the municipalities, the rent of which is paid to the municipality by SEB bank.
SEB bankas also equips and furnishes part of the premises with its own funds, so that it is convenient to serve customers in them - the infrastructure created by the bank can be used by the administration or residents of the aforementioned municipalities when the bank's mobile team is not available. Municipalities will be visited by the bank depending on where the greatest need of the bank's customers will be", said E. Dovbyšienė.
At that time, the representatives of "Urbo" bank promise that there are no plans to reduce the network of its customer branches and to close more branches.
Author: Lukas Dulskas, TV3.lt
