BANKS could nearly double profits and cut bank charges by 15% if they could win the battle against bank crime, The Star reports. In 1999, R68-million was stolen in bank robberies. According to the paper, crime committed at ATMs cost R55-million and fraud estimated to cost about R4-billion a year. In 1998, banks made a pre-tax profit of R6-billion. Bank charges levied total R7-billion. If banks did not need to spend R1-billion on fighting crime, bank charges could be lowered by 15%.