From April 1, customers of Oversea-Chinese Banking
Corporation (OCBC Bank) and United Overseas Bank (UOB) have access
to free, unlimited cash withdrawals at either bank’s automated
teller machines (ATM). Previously, customers were entitled to two
free transactions per month, with subsequent transactions charged
at S$0.30 per transaction. The completely fee-free service will be
provided until Dec 31 this year.
“Although this shared ATM network service has been in
place for close to 30 years, we want more of our customers to be
aware of this convenience to withdraw cash, check their account
balance and transfer funds. Our intention in offering this
unlimited fee-free cash withdrawal promotion is to highlight the
availability of these services, which are accessible across our
combined network of ATMs,” said Mr Dennis Tan, head of consumer
financial services Singapore, OCBC Bank.
The two banks have more than 1,200 ATMs in Singapore,
at which customers can conduct cross-bank cash withdrawals, fund
transfers and balance inquiry services.
In 2016, there were more than five million cross-bank
transactions by customers using OCBC Bank’s and UOB’s shared ATM
network. In the past 10 years, such transactions on the network
have increased 30 per cent, highlighting potential customer demand
for such an initiative.
Ms Jacquelyn Tan, head of personal financial services
(Singapore), UOB, said: “There are three things customers expect
when it comes to their banking services: Make it faster, simpler
and more convenient. This partnership delivers on all three
expectations, as customers have more ATMs to choose from and do not
have to worry about capping their usage to only two cross-bank ATM
withdrawals per month.”
In 1988, shared ATM services were launched to allow
participating banks to withdraw cash and perform other transactions
using any ATM within the network. DBS and POSB have their own
shared network with 1,100 ATMs located across the island.
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