CPI 1700cc

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp is increasing up to 27 service fees and charges from June, with most of them rising by over 10 percent.

Some fees are seeing hikes of 50 to 100 percent, according to a bank notice to customers.

The minimum charge for general customers depositing 500 coins or more per day will be increased by 10 percent to HK$55. For HSBC Premier customers, it will be hiked by 20 percent to HK$30.

The minimum fee for ordinary customers to deposit more than 200 notes per day will also be increased by 10 percent to HK$55.

The most drastic increase will be the handling fee for telegraphic transfers, which will be doubled to HK$100 for general customers.

Although the fee for depositing checks has not been adjusted, the threshold of the number of checks to be exempted from the fee has been lowered from 30 to 15.

The bank will also raise the fee for the purchase of gift certificates for general customers by 20 to 25 percent, that is, the fee for each gift certificate will be HK$10 to HK$12.

A spokesman said fees for the items involved have not been increased for many years and most of the fees are now in line with market levels.

For some of these services, customers will continue to be exempted from fees if they manage them through mobile or online banking.

Ronick Chan Chun-ying, who represents the banking sector in the Legislative Council, said the fee increases by the banking giant may prompt its local peers to review their fees with a view toward adjustments.