Bank of Valletta will refund fees applied for dormant accounts and account balances below the minimum threshold of €200.

The bank last week said it will suspend the application of fees related to these accounts, pending ongoing discussions with the Malta Financial Services Authority.

BOV introduced the fees in September, saying it was doing so to recover partial costs of retaining accounts for clients who chose to keep their accounts inactive or with a low balance.

The fees amount to a €35 yearly fee for accounts that have registered no activity for at least two years and a €10 charge per quarter for customers whose combined account balances amount to under €200. 

Certain categories of customers were excluded from such fees.

However it said on Wednesday that following discussions with the regulator, the bank has now decided to refund the fees applied so far.

This was being done because it had become apparent that, despite the bank's communication programme over June to December through various media channels, some customers remained unaware of the introduction of the charges.
 
The bank said it had introduced the fees to partially recover costs of retaining accounts for clients who choose to keep these inactive or with a low balance.

It said it will be pursuing discussions with the regulator and will be communicating afresh with its customers in this regard.

These fees, BOV said, will be reversed automatically and there is no need for customers to contact the bank.

The bank encouraged clients not using their bank accounts to either activate them, close them should they not be needed any more or opt for a basic payment account which is exempt from the application of such charges.