OREANDA-NEWS. Starting from 1 January 2010 SEB will be standardising its price list and introducing a service fee of 0.4% on amounts withdrawn over the counter in its branches, with the minimum fee being 30 kroons. This change will also apply to senior clients, reported the press-centre of SEB Pank.

“Over the years the number of people withdrawing cash over the counter has been getting smaller and smaller, because more active use is being made of bank cards and ATMs,” explained Riho Unt, the head of the SEB Retail Banking and Technology Area and a member of the bank’s management board. “Our clients are showing a growing preference for services which are more convenient and more affordable, and that’s equally true of our senior clients.”

According to the bank, as few as 6% of clients withdraw cash over the counter in branches. The majority are older clients, although even in this band 85% use the available alternatives – paying by card or withdrawing money from ATMs. Since 2 November 2009 clients whose accounts have been frozen have been able to make use of their minimum means of subsistence via the Internet bank and card terminals, and no longer need to carry out transactions over the counter.

Withdrawing cash from ATMs is free of charge to all clients. Seniors (aged 60+) also pay no monthly charges on their bank cards. Clients who use another bank’s ATM to withdraw money have to pay a transaction fee of 9 kroons. There are more than 1000 ATMs in Estonia, 308 of which form part of the SEB network.

Senior clients can withdraw cash in a number of ways

Every SEB branch has its own ATM, and our customer service representatives will be happy to guide senior clients in using it. If this still proves too complicated, clients can appoint an authorised user of their account to carry out online transactions for them and provide them with the amount of cash they require.

If a client’s health does not enable them to make use of an ATM and they are unable to appoint an authorised user, they can apply for their pension to be delivered to them at home at the state’s expense. To do this, clients should contact their local Pension Board office.

SEB’s standardised price list is also valid in the Post Bank.