Small and medium-sized businesses are furious that the ABN Amro bank is raising its bank charges on January 1, the Telegraaf reports.

The bank will raise the charge for a business account by 15% and the charge for handling handwritten payment slips by 62%. Handwritten payment slips are still in common use in the retail and catering sectors.

According to the bank, the increases are necessary to cover the rising cost of fraud and cyber crime and to pay for the single European payment system SEPA which will launch on January 1.

‘For most companies, the price rise will be around €40 or €50 a year,’ a bank spokesman told the Telegraaf.

However, one company affected told the paper: ‘We cannot get any financing, but if the ABN Amro looks as if it might lose money, the small and medium-sized companies are expected to pay.’

The companies’ association MKB-Nederland said: ‘Which other business can raise its prices by 15% to 62% at this time?’

The association points out that there are fewer cash transactions which is cheaper and more efficient. ‘But there is to sign of the banks lowering their prices.’