Santander, the ‘Robin Hood’ of commissions (but only international ones)
In a move that will undoubtedly make its fees and commission departments cry with emotion (or perhaps despair), Banco Santander México has grandly announced that, from now on, its customers will be able to make international transfers from the comfort of its mobile application without having to pay the modest sum of $15 for the privilege. Yes, you read that right. Zero. Nothing. Can you imagine? A bank, voluntarily, giving up a source of income. The world is clearly turning upside down.
With this public relations masterstroke—sorry, I mean, with this “strategic business vision”—the financial institution proclaims itself the first bank in the country to offer this dazzling benefit. One can almost hear the sound of pigeons being released at headquarters as executives pat each other on the back. The $15 fee, that small tax on desperation or the simple need to send money to a family member or for a payment abroad, has been officially sent to the trunk of memories. Releasing, according to their calculations, millions of dollars per year for their clients. A pity that they do not specify how many millions they pocketed before for that same concept.
Forex paradise, available 24/7 (with a few tricks up its sleeve)
So that there is no doubt of its magnanimity, the institution details that this service will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Because what better time to send Swedish krona to Stockholm than at 3am on a Wednesday? Operation covers seven currencies: US dollar, euro, pound sterling, Swiss franc, Swedish krona, Japanese yen and Canadian dollar. Notably absent are the Cuban peso or bitcoin, but I suppose there are limits in banking charity too.
They also state that there is no minimum transaction amount nor a transaction limit. Want to send a single dollar to Canada? Forward. One hundred operations in one day? Cheer up! The process, they tell us, is carried out in three simple steps. What they do not clarify is whether the third step involves crossing your fingers and praying that the exchange rate applied is not so advantageous for the bank that, in the end, those 15 dollars that you saved through commission you end up paying—and with interest—in the exchange fluctuation. But hey, it’s a detail. The important thing is free of charge, right?
The head of the exchange rate area, Gerardo Vargas Sandoval, uttered what is probably the most rehearsed phrase of his career: “We have taken a strategic step… in clear recognition of the increasingly global environment”. Translation: We realized that charging for something that others could eventually offer for free wasn’t such a good idea in the long run, and what better way to do it than to do it first and get as much advertising out of it as possible.
The fine print that is not so small (and the remittances that are left out of the party)
To access this elysium of cost-free transactions, lucky customers—that is, those who already have an account with them—do not require additional procedures. The benefit is automatic. You just need to enter the beneficiary details (a task that, let’s be honest, always has the potential to turn into a drama of epic proportions if you forget a digit), choose the amount and confirm. Of course, if the shipment is in dollars to the United States, be prepared to look for the electronic transfer number, that code that everyone has memorized along with the credit card number.
And here comes the asterisk, the “but” in this financial fairy tale. Santander, in a burst of clarity, strongly emphasizes that these are exclusively operations between accounts. And what does that mean? Well, this does not apply to cash shipments, also known as remittances. Oh, sure. For a moment we thought that banking goodness had extended to one of the sectors that pays the most to move your money. Silly us. Generosity has its boundaries, and apparently they end where the cash of families who depend on that income begins. It is an act of nobility, but selective. For those who send money to the account of their son who studies in Europe, good; For those who tell their mother that they need to pay the electricity bill in cash, the usual commission does apply. Solidarity, like champagne, is for some pockets.
In short, it is positive news, without a doubt. Any relief to the constant drain on bank fees is welcome. But we couldn’t help but notice the delicious irony of a bank announcing with fanfare that it has stopped charging us for something, as if they were doing us a monumental favor instead of simply adjusting—perhaps belatedly—its model to what should be the norm in a digital world. It’s as if your landlord announced with great fanfare that, starting today, you will no longer have to pay extra to use the elevator. Thank you! And what about the leak in the bathroom? That, friends, is another story and another commission.
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