AIB change Conditions for Free Banking

[Lightning]

So thats the end of free banking?

No, Ulster still offer free banking. Free banking is still possible, subject to conditions, with all other banks, except NIB.

Great, I will have to start paying real attention now to how to reduce fees.
I have a second current account that always gets hit with charges but because I dont use it much, its usually only less than €5 charges per quarter.

You can reduce that to zero.

That is disgusting, how many people can leave that much money lying idle in a current account

It is excessive to leave 2,500 EUR in your account. You are forgoing interest in a savings account.

Is there any other Irish bank that offers free banking or at least reduced charges for the ordinary punter

Ulster Bank for now.

So you need to have €2,500 in your account every day , never going under this ?

Yes, exactly. 2,500 EUR each and every day.

Unbelievable, the one good thing they had left and now it's all gone. Time to find ways of cutting down the fees then!

or switch bank.

Account must be in credit of 2,500 for a full Quarter in a year, correct?

Yes, a full billing quarter.

So are they debiting the banking cost first, and then - provided u meet the conditions outlined - are they refunding?

Yes, on the same day.

So who has the most reasonable free banking conditions at the moment? My coworker is recommending Ulster Bank...

Yes, Ulster for now.

Do you have a source for this? Or inside info or work for the bank? Or is it just a guess?

The Sunday Times said that Ulster might end free banking. However, this might only apply for new Ulster customers from a future date. This is the way PTSB applied fees. i.e. the fees only applied to new customers.

I don't see the point of free banking. If the bank offers you something cheap, they are making it up some other way.

I would much prefer if the prices charged were linked to the costs incurred.

I see your points Brendan and agree but I think one also needs to consider the profit to the bank form their current accounts. 'Free' retail bank accounts are still profitable, and in some cases hugely profitable for banks.

For example, banks pay 0% interest to the customer, with a current account, while the bank invests the money in deposits and money market funds at a higher rate.

I would be happy to pay reasonable fees but only if the bank pays me reasonable interest on positive balances in my current account.

Anyway, as the option exists to get free banking, consumers should seek to avail of that option !!

 

[Cedrina]

The main problem I have with this change is, if you are going to make 60% of your customers pay to use your services, why not go the whole hog and make everyone pay. Surely 100% fee paying customers is the ideal sceanrio as opposed to 60% if you need to recoup costs? While I may have 2,500 to sit in my current a/c everyday for the quarter, I'm certainly not going to do for zero % since they stopped paying interest on credit balances. By the way which a customer service representative (who called me to see if I needed help) tried to convince me I was not getting in the first place. Time to move methinks, I've paid AIB enough over the last 25 years, time to give someone else a go even if I still have to pay fees.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

CiaranT said

I would be happy to pay reasonable fees but only if the bank pays me reasonable interest on positive balances in my current account.

I think that this is a valid point which is an extension of the point I was making.

The charges should be linked to the costs. And the payments should be linked to the income to the bank.

So let the banks charge for transactions but pay interest on balances.

The reality is that the charges only recover a very small portion of the costs of running a current account system.

I am amazed by the reaction. People will close their AIB accounts to move to a bank which also charges but which probably has an inferior service.

 

[theresa1]

That is ridiculous. Hopefully BOI don't do the same. It's currently handy enough to just do 9 online transfers a quarter.

I agree - BOI will take some of AIB's customers now - no doubt about it.

 

[uptomyeyesin]

It won't be enough for me to change, the hassle of changing loands/mortgage etc to another account would be too much. But I will definitely look at minimising the costs e.g. limiting withdrawals, use of laser card which I use freely now. On my main account I get a charge of approx €30 per quarter, refunded. I will look to reduce that down as much as I can now.

 

[PaddyW]

I'd love to be able to switch bank Ciaran T, but same as uptomyeyesin above, the hassle of changing mortgages, credit cards, loans etc is too much. I will just use my laser card and internet banking less often!

 

[Sunny]

It won't be enough for me to change, the hassle of changing loands/mortgage etc to another account would be too much. But I will definitely look at minimising the costs e.g. limiting withdrawals, use of laser card which I use freely now. On my main account I get a charge of approx €30 per quarter, refunded. I will look to reduce that down as much as I can now.

I'd love to be able to switch bank Ciaran T, but same as uptomyeyesin above, the hassle of changing mortgages, credit cards, loans etc is too much. I will just use my laser card and internet banking less often!

Switiching current accounts is easy. The banks do everything for you. Even if something went wrong and a DD went wrong because of the switch, you would not suffer financially as the banks are responsible.

The problem with switching at the moment is getting a bank to give you a current account at all.

As for the introduction of charges, there are a couple of problems with AIB's statement. They claim is due to the cost of providing cash. Well then, why are they charging for debit card use considering they already charge the retailer merchant fees? Why are they charging for standing orders and direct debits that happen automatically and there is no manual intervention unless something goes wrong? Why are they charging for on-line banking transactions? Especially when they are going to be charging a quarterly maintenance fee on top of transaction charges.

By all means, charge people for using ATM's, Branch and telephone services and that way we might become less reliant on cash and cheques just like the banks and Government want us to.

 

[Leper]

Banks have once again demonstrated a complete lack of consideration for their customers. Brendan is correct when he says that they make their profit from other products - but this to me just undermines the argument for ending free current accounts.

For example I became an AIB current account customer 10 years ago when I got a mortgage with them. Purely for convenience since then I have taken out and repaid two car loans and opened multiple online savings accounts (interest rates were comparable to elsewhere)

However I will close my current account and move elsewhere rather than be taken for a granted once again by a bank. Hence all future online savings and car loans etc. will more than likely go with a bank that provides the most competitive current account. I am ,sorry was! a profitable customer for AIB, I almost never use a bank counter, do all my banking online, have never missed loan repayments etc. etc. So hopefully the initial revenue they gain may well be overtaken by the lost profits from other products - we live in hope!!

We should start a movement to encourage as many AIB customers as possible to move their current accounts. At least a small effort towards teaching a bank a lesson?

I am with AIB since 1970 and I am not going to pay fees just to keep some college graduate "justifying" his/her existence in the bank. Neither can I afford to keep €2500 continuously on "deposit." I'm changing my account to cheaper banking and I am not waiting until May 28th. I'm moving within a few days. The €90 charge is ludicrous especially when you see what you have to earn (after tax, usc, prsi, levies, etc). Goodbye AIB and it's not Adios.

 

[uptomyeyesin]

I disagree that its easy to switch. The money laundering docs you have to provide are a pain in the proverbial. From opening a Rabo account a couple of years ago I remember I had to fill in a form, get a stamped copy of an ID and proof of address/current bill.

 

[Sunny]

I disagree that its easy to switch. The money laundering docs you have to provide are a pain in the proverbial. From opening a Rabo account a couple of years ago I remember I had to fill in a form, get a stamped copy of an ID and proof of address/current bill.

That's setting up an account. You said switching was the problem because you have to change all your DD's individually. You don't.

If you don't think filling out a form, providing a form of ID and a current bill is not worth the hassle for saving approx €90 a year, then that is up to you.

 

[dec1892]

It won't be enough for me to change, the hassle of changing loands/mortgage etc to another account would be too much. But I will definitely look at minimising the costs e.g. limiting withdrawals, use of laser card which I use freely now. On my main account I get a charge of approx €30 per quarter, refunded. I will look to reduce that down as much as I can now.

Whats the best way to go about so of keeping this quarterly charge at a minimum??

Also, can anyone confirm that there will be no charges on savings accounts at AIB? I have 2 different savings accoutns with them at the moment......

 

[ClubMan]

Whats the best way to go about so of keeping this quarterly charge at a minimum??

Pages 7 to 9:

[broken link removed]

 

[Mongola]

That is disgusting, how many people can leave that much money lying idle in a current account

According to AIB, this applies to 40% of their account holders...which I absolutely don't believe!

 

[mehaul]

From the "Guide to Fees and Charges for Personal Accounts", Page 6 (Page 8 of the PDF). Account transaction fees may also apply:

"Same Day Value Payments
• Inter-Branch transfer (a payment
from an AIB account to another
AIB account) €12.70 per item
• Inter-Bank transfer (a payment from
an AIB account to a non-AIB account
within the Republic of Ireland) €25.39 per item"

So does this mean that when I transfer money from my AIB Current account to my Rabo Direct Savings account, I get charged €25.39 each time?? Plus a €0.20 transaction charge? And another €0.20 when I transfer money back??

And if I transfer money to a friend who's loaned me cash on a night out I'll be charged either €12.70 or €25.39 plus €0.20???

Yeeeeikes!

I do a lot of this kind of transferring, but do it all exclusively online, never in branch or over the phone.

I don't like the idea of setting bills up for direct debit - I prefer paying bills when I choose (and when I know the funds are there!!) but it doesn't look like it's any cheaper to DD than go and pay online manually. Is the only way of reducing this by Paying all bills by Credit Card and then paying the Credit Card bill in on €0.20 transaction? Or are CC transactions going to be charged at €0.20 a go now too?

 

[TarfHead]

So does this mean that when I transfer money from my AIB Current account to my Rabo Direct Savings account, I get charged €25.39 each time?? Plus a €0.20 transaction charge? And another €0.20 when I transfer money back??

I'm not a customer of AIB, but assume a Same Day Value Payment to be a premium service, hence the premium charge. A transfer from an AIB account to a RABO account, for something later than same day value, would incur the 20c charge (if you don't meet the criteria for free banking).

 

[pator]

I disagree that its easy to switch. The money laundering docs you have to provide are a pain in the proverbial. From opening a Rabo account a couple of years ago I remember I had to fill in a form, get a stamped copy of an ID and proof of address/current bill.

Are you being serious?

If someone is against the charges then an option is to switch, too easy to say that one is against the charge and happy to write about it here but not happy to spend some timeopening a new account.

I gotta think you were being flipant when you said you had to fill in a form - hardly a herculian task and understandable that a new business would new some details of their customers,
- bills I have loads of them
- stamp id, ok gotta pop in to station but only takes minutes

Being for or against the charges is one thing, opening an account hardly a pain in the greater scheme of things

 

[pc7]

I just rang my branch there to complain, I said if you get enough agro will you roll back. She said they have been told today to log the complaints, so get onto your branch and complain, it might work!

I said the amount of 2500 is extortionate and if I had it why would I keep it in an account with no interest. She said she wouldn't even have it herself. But that they are bringing themselves in line with other banks. (this seems untrue as Ulster seem to have zero fees) She said I would have to cancel and reset up all my direct debits on my current and joint account. (again it seems Ulsters switching team can do this).

 

[Time]

Switching is not that easy. When I switched away from AIB many of the DD's did not switch as the providers would not accept the information provided by the new bank. Cue me having to set up new mandates with each company.

The only thing that switched properly was the end balance at AIB to UB.

 

[Joe Nonety]

Can't complain, it was good while it lasted.
Some of the ideas that banks brought in during the boom were loss making such as free banking and tracker mortgages, so it's only right that they've gotten rid of such terrible business practices.

 

[kceire]

Im leaving AIB now. My 1/4 fees are always over €30 and this terms (26th Nov - 24th Feb) they were €31.10. (currently free so fees were returned)

So that leaves me with an approx annual charge of €125.

I went along with the green choice, no bills, online transactions etc etc laser card and no paper statements, but to get it thrown back in your face, bye bye AIB.