Most of the domestic Chinese banks are starting to charge service fees, the Yangtse Evening Post reports.

From October 8, 2008, the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank will charge debit card users a service fee for transfers or SMS notifications. These services were originally provided to customers for free.

Since September 1, 2008, the Bank of Communications has charged credit card users a 12 yuan per quarter services fee for SMS notifications.

However, if users cancel the services or use 1,500 yuan (US$219) at any one time, they won't be charged a fee.

According to a leader of a bank in Nanjing, banks in China are changing their profit strategies from the disparity between interest rates on savings and loans to charging services fees for bank card users.

From now on, the free services provided by banks will become fewer and fewer.

(CRIENGLISH.com October 5, 2008)