A number of leading Chinese banks, including the four big state-owned commercial banks, eliminated the hotly-disputed cross-bank ATM inquiry fee on Friday.

The banks are Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Shenzhen Development Bank, and Hua Xia Bank. The Bank of Communications cancelled the inquiry fee on Wednesday.

On June 1 last year, many of China's banks began to charge card holders from other banks 0.3 yuan (3.9 U.S. cents) each time they checked their bank accounts at an ATM. The charge triggered an uproar and an avalanche of criticism from bank clients.

Liu Zhangjun, deputy chief of the China Banking Association, said early this month the banks had decided to put an end to the fee, bearing in mind the interests of the nation's large number of low and medium income earners.

However, more than two thirds of 66,000 internet users polled by leading web portal Sina.com believe the banks canceled the fee because market competition is becoming fiercer as foreign banks expand their presence in China. The banks' real motive, said the netizens, was to retain clients.

The banks initially sought to defend the charge by saying it would help them boost their ATM networks. But analysts retorted that the big commercial banks were not willing to have their extensive ATM networks used for free by clients of their smaller peers.

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and many other smaller city commercial banks refrained from charging the fee, apparently considering that the example of their bigger rivals was a bad one to follow.

"Eradicating the inquiry fee charge may dent the banks' enthusiasm for expanding their ATM networks," Liu claimed.

Source: Xinhua