For every customer of a bank, the moment you walk to the ATM and withdraw your own cash, you pay a withdrawal charge. On top of this charge for withdrawing your own money, at the month-end, the bank returns with a second bill.
This time, it is a “maintenance fee” for keeping the money you just paid to withdraw. This double charge is now drawing fresh anger, and a prominent economist has added his voice.
Dr. Theo Acheampong, economist and political risk analyst, says he has not budged in his disapproval of such charges.
“Still fully stand by this,” he wrote. “The bank[s] cannot charge me a maintenance fee for my own money I’ve deposited, more so, when I’m charged for withdrawals. Didn’t make sense then, and doesn’t now. We should scrap it.”
The economist, over the years, has raised concerns over these charges. To him, he cannot fathom why the bank will keep charging customers for keeping their money in the bank and charge again for withdrawing the money.
He further cannot understand why the bank maintains these charges while they trade with the customers’ deposits and earn profits on them. “Why are you charging me $20 as monthly maintenance fee for bringing my own USD for keeps when you deduct 3% commission anytime I withdraw money from this forex account and also trade with it by lending to other at over 10%,” he questioned earlier.
His concern seeks to resonate with a number of customers, and many of them lined up with receipts of frustration.
The Bill That Never Sleeps
For one business owner, the fees were enough to trigger a game of musical banks. He said he has switched institutions several times, claiming one bank charges GH¢50 monthly on a corporate account while others take more than GH¢200.
Another customer described the pile-up plainly as “pay to withdraw, then pay again at month-end through e-service charges. A third said buying with a debit card attracts a charge, and then comes a card maintenance fee. “Elsewhere,” the customer said, “you don’t pay a dime.”
Some complained about e-service charges on services they hardly use. Others pointed to the 7 to 7.5 percent charged on online shopping with Visa cards, and to mobile money transfers between users on the same network now carrying fees.
The cost of saving itself worried others. One customer said the charges discourage savings and urged banks to rethink before customers walk away.
The Other Side
But others also believe the charges are justified. One customer argued that a maintenance fee on a current account is fair, since it replaces the old commission on turnover (C.O.T).
It is a reminder that the fee’s defenders see it as payment for service, not a penalty on savings.
The Question Back at the Economist
Many respondents turned the spotlight on Dr. Acheampong himself, noting that, given his position in the current government, he can help to address the challenge.
The economist now serves as Technical Advisor to the Finance Minister. For these customers, if the policy sits within the system he advises, why is he still pleading from the sidelines?
“You are part of decision makers now,” one commenter said. Another asked whether his input was being ignored. A third put it bluntly: do the needful. Others pointed to the regulator. One commenter said the Bank of Ghana should bear the blame, arguing that regulators know how banks operate yet stay silent “until a customer feels exploited.”
What Remains Unanswered
Dr. Acheampong’s remarks do not say what, if anything, is being done inside government. Neither the banks nor the regulator appear in the conversation, and the thread offers no figures from them on what these fees earn or what they cover.
What it does show is a customer base running out of patience. For people who save in small amounts and withdraw in smaller ones, every cedi counts, and every deduction is noticed.
It is unclear what the regulator, the Bank of Ghana, and the government, through the Ministry of Finance, in addition to the industry association, will do about the situation.
