Dealers complain about the high “balance transfer” fees from credit cards through the smart application

Customers said that their banks allowed the balance transfer service from credit cards, which was previously done by submitting an application to the Customer Service Center, but imposed a high fee equivalent to the cash withdrawal fee from the card through the ATM, which includes a cut amount of up to 300 dirhams, with a interest rate determined between 2.5 and 3% of the value of the dravated amount.

They showed to «Emirates Today» that the service available through the smart application is fast, and it is done immediately, without submitting requests, and this is calculated for banks, but in return the fee is exaggerated, and it is preferable to be done with the same fees imposed when submitting an application to the customer service center, and installment of the amount in batches, in exchange for a simple summary such as transaction fees and without interest.

The banker, Mohamed Ghazi, said: “A credit card transfer service, usually accompanied by the imposition of a fee or benefits according to the applicable bank’s policy, but the customer must realize that the (fast cash) request from the card is preferable to be by submitting an application through the customer service center, to avoid rapid cash withdrawal fee, which is usually a summary and useful amount together, which is much larger than the fast cash request.”

Ghazi indicated that «the conversion that is done through the smart application of the bank, is carried out directly as a single transfer process, without a payment plan such as the one that is provided when requesting a quick cash from the card balance through the customer service center», pointing out that some applications also provided easy plans to transfer the cache, and this equivalent to its same case fees if the customer service center is contacted, so customers should pay attention to the difference between transferring from the card balance directly, and choosing a payment plan In installments, whether by application or through the customer service center.

For his part, the banker Tamer Abu Bakr said that “transferring the balance from the credit card, either through the customer service center, with simple administrative fees and at low and sometimes (zero) interest, or by choosing a transfer plan with a payment plan through the smart application, and direct transfer from the card balance to any other account, without a payment plan, must be avoided, because it is equivalent to direct cash withdrawal and its fees high, and a daily interest is imposed daily Even payment of the withdrawn amount. ”

Abu Bakr indicated that “the banks provide all banking services through their smart applications, but the customer should pay attention and choose the services, after verifying the list of available fees as well, through the application, so that it does not pay amounts that he does not know about, as fees or benefits.”