This was allegedly done in secret by the banks who did not notify their card-holders of the changes, said the State Bank's deputy head of inspections, Nguyen Cong Duong.

Duong said the SBV and its branches were working hard to oversee if commercial banks had obeyed recent orders not to charge for intranet services - or adjust extranet fees, even if they want to lower them.

"Most banks are following our instructions," Duong said.

However, he added that the bank was able to oversee the situation throughout Vietnam, but did not have enough inspectors to complete the task.

Duong advised card-holders to protect their rights by advising banks if they encountered any unrealistic ATM fees. Inspections could then be carried out.

He said some banks not o­nly appeared to be doing what they wanted, but were also charging clients too many varieties of service charges.

Vietcombank deputy general director Nguyen Thu Ha told Khampha.vn news website that ATM fees, including those for balance checks, had been operating for a long time.

She denied Vietcombank had charged intranet fees and had not adjusted extranet fees.

She also said that Vietcombank and other banks would collect intranet fees and adjust extranet ATM transaction fee when it received a new policy from the SBV. This was expected next year.

Ngo Ngoc Dong, CEO of Vietnam National Financial Switching JSC, or Banknet, said that many banks complained of the high expenses of investing in ATM systems.

However, the central bank's view remains firm: fees can o­nly be collected under the road map it has developed. This is to ensure a balance of interests between customers and the banks.

Associate Professor Nguyen Van Nam, former director of the Institute for International Economics, said ATM management and transaction services should be improved to boost usage across Vietnam.