The Bank of Namibia says reducing high banking fees will take time, as new regulations are implemented amid growing public concern over charges and bank profits.
The bank acknowledges that banking charges remain a challenge and that more work needs to be done to address the issue.
Central bank governor Ebson Uanguta, while appearing before a parliamentary standing committee meeting on economics yesterday, said the central bank has implemented measures aimed at easing the burden on consumers.
“We have been doing quite a lot, putting measures, regulations and safeguards in place to ensure that fees and charges are contained,” Uanguta said.
Commercial banks collectively earned about N$15.9 billion last year, 10% more than the N$14.5 billion they made in 2024, according to the central bank’s annual report.
It also reveals that banks made N$5.0 billion from fee income, about 31.3% of total income, mainly from transaction fees and service charges.
Uanguta said the desired outcomes cannot be achieved overnight, describing the process as a journey that will take time.
However, he expressed confidence that significant progress would be achieved within the next three years.
Uanguta also called on commercial banks to be more transparent about their fees and charges to allow customers to fully understand the cost of services such as loans.
In 2023, the bank introduced the Banking Institutions Act 13 of 2023 and the Payment System Management Act 14 of 2023, which empower the minister of finance to make regulations relating to fees and charges imposed by banking institutions on their clients.
Namibians pay up to N$32 for some debit order transactions. Money transfers also attract charges that generally increase with the amount sent, ranging from about N$12 for smaller transactions to as much as N$40 for transfers of up to N$5 000.
Uanguta added that the central bank continues to conduct financial literacy and awareness campaigns after observing that many people do not carefully read loan agreements and only discover certain fees and charges later.
The paliamentary committee raised concerns over the central bank acting as a watchdog while consumers continue to face high banking fees and loan charges, arguing that it appears to favour foreign-owned commercial banks over ordinary Namibians. Meanwhile, Affirmative Repositioning paliamentarian George Kambala raised concerns about the ownership structure of commercial banks, arguing that it does not adequately support Namibia’s developmental goals.
“Most of these commercial banks repatriate their profits to their countries of origin, while Namibia only receives a small portion, often through corporate social investment programmes. What are we doing to ensure greater local ownership in these banks?” he asked.
Earlier this year, commercial banks revised several banking fees and charges, including the removal of card-swiping charges and the introduction of zero-rated airtime charges when using banking applications.
