Customers of Republic Bank will from this Friday, begin paying higher fees for services.

The country’s largest commercial bank has announced increases across everyday services.

The changes affect both routine transactions and penalty charges, with higher costs for basic services as well as steeper fees for overdrafts, missed payments and insufficient funds.

Notable increases include higher charges for overdrafts and insufficient funds, with NSF fees rising from $34.50 to $57.50, overdraft fees increasing from $30 to $57.50, and some loan late-payment penalties doubling to as much as $100 dollars.

Debit transactions will also now attract per-transaction fees, on several accounts that previously included a limited number of free withdrawals.

There had been concerns that the country’s commercial banks would increase fees, to pass on higher costs to customers following finance minister Davendranath Tancoo’s announcement in last year’s national budget.

He said, a 0.25% levy on the assets of commercial banks and insurance companies operating in Trinidad and Tobago would be introduced.

Republic Financial Holdings Limited reported a profit attributable to equity holders of, 2.2 billion dollars for the year ending September 30^th last year.