Japan Seeks Cut Of Interbank Money Transfer Fees

Japan’s Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) plans to urge financial institutions to effectively reduce interbank money transfer fees, informed sources said Monday, April 13.

The antitrust watchdog believes the remittance fees that have stayed high for long years may interfere with the spread of cashless payments and other new services in the country.

The JFTC plans to call on financial institutions to correct the situation in a report that is expected to be released as early as next week, according to the sources.

Money transfers are conducted via the Zengin Data Telecommunication System (Zengin System). While the transfer fees are supposed to be set based on negotiations by individual banks, 117 yen (US$1.09) has been imposed uniformly on all transfers of less than 30,000 yen (US$278.93) and 162 yen (US$1.51) for all transfers of 30,000 yen or over.

The fees have effectively been fixed for about half a century and some pundits have warned that such charges will be a burden on small businesses when they adopt cashless payment systems.

Full Content: Nippon

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