Bank Melli sparked nationwide outrage after it charged the clients 50,000 rials as SAPTA subscription fee without prior notice on Friday. Until a while ago, Bank Melli directly paid a fee to mobile operators for the messages they sent to the bank’s clients on their banking transactions, but the trend has not changed, with many banks saying the banking system should become more commission-oriented, Eghtesad News reported on Friday. The central bank has left it to the banks to decide on the fees in order to foster competition among them. Bank Melli released a statement on Saturday saying it already informed its clients about the SAPTA subscription fee through SMS, its official website and the press. According to the statement, 49,600 clients decided to unsubscribe from the service and were not charged at all. The bank has now extended the deadline to unsubscribe from the service by June 21, for those who may not have received the prior notice. The statement said the already-deducted 50,000 rials in fee will be returned to those who will unsubscribe by the deadline.
