Re­pub­lic Bank Ltd will im­ple­ment a se­ries of fee in­creas­es on se­lect prod­ucts and ser­vices from this Fri­day, May 1, prompt­ing con­cern from busi­ness groups who warn the changes could add pres­sure to al­ready strained en­ter­pris­es.

The bank, in a no­tice post­ed on its web­site, in­di­cat­ed that the ad­just­ments form part of “an on­go­ing re­view of our prod­ucts and ser­vices.” The changes af­fect a wide range of trans­ac­tions, in­clud­ing cheque books, for­eign cur­ren­cy drafts, man­ag­er’s cheques and penal­ty fees tied to in­suf­fi­cient funds and over­drawn ac­counts.

Among the ad­just­ments, the fee for of­fi­cial cheques or man­ag­er’s cheques will in­crease from $20 to $30, while charges for for­eign cur­ren­cy drafts will move from $28.75 to $35.