Ulster bank ertf, charge for atm withdrawel abroad

elcato

Moderator
Messages
4,030
When did UB start this ? I just withdrew sterling recently and got charged this for two different transactions.
 
Charge with most banks is generally only applied when you use an ATM in a different currency zone. Normally no fees in eurozone countries.
 
I know. How dare Ulster Bank charge the fees which are clearly stated on the visa debit brochure, in the terms & conditions and there website.
Actually, they must have only just started, hence the original question. I withdrew money in England in November with no charges. Also withdrew in other eurozone countries with no charge. And also, I have a normal ATM cirrus card not a visa debit card. As a matter of interest could you show me a link to their (note the spelling) website which states they do charge this as I couldn't find it ?
 
According to the "A Guide to Personal Accounts Fees and Interest" here:

Debit Cards – International ATM Transaction
(excluding withdrawals within the Eurozone or from an Ulster Bank, First Active, Easy Cash, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest cash machine)

2% of transaction
Min charge € 3, Max charge € 12 , plus 1.5% Foreign Exchange Fee

As to the reason why you can see now the cash withdraw plus the fees seperate, that is because of the new EU guidelines about how they have to show fees/charges.

Also note that there is a geo limit to the banks mentioned in the same document:

If you use your ServiceCARD or CashCARD in a cash machine owned by Ulster Bank, First Active, Easy Cash, Royal Bank of Scotland or NatWest in the Republic of Ireland and Eurozone you will not be charged.
 
Last edited:
This is a new development.

I got a letter on Wednesday notifying me of changes to the fees on withdrawls. I cannot remember the details but it spoke of charges for international transactions at ATM and POS.
(I do not really use my UB account so the changes do not impact me).
 
Actually, they must have only just started, hence the original question. I withdrew money in England in November with no charges. Also withdrew in other eurozone countries with no charge. And also, I have a normal ATM cirrus card not a visa debit card. As a matter of interest could you show me a link to their (note the spelling) website which states they do charge this as I couldn't find it ?

If you use your ServiceCARD or CashCARD in a cash machine owned
by Ulster Bank, First Active, Easy Cash, Royal Bank of Scotland or NatWest
in the Republic of Ireland and Eurozone you will not be charged

I was in London and used one of these "private" ATM machines, they charge you and tell you before you continue. It usually has a flash message "1.50GBP fee to use this machine"

Try and use an RBC machine where possible and you can avoid these fees.
 
The charge was €3 on both withdrawals and a seperate ertf 1.65 was charged. On my statements from November, although they appeared, these were showing up as 0.0. I must try the RBS ATM next time to see if they appear for that. Just strange that I withdrew from the exact same ATM earlier in the year and was not charged so looks like they have changed it. I'm aware that other banks have been charging this for a while.
 
So just to update on this for Ulster bank ATM cards.

Credit Andorra Bank withdrawal in March, I got ERTF 0.0 and Charge 0.0 so within euroland there's no charge.

RBS and Natwest England withdrawal in April and May, I got ERTF 0.0 and Charge 0.0 so users should use their branches in the UK

I have changed to Visa Debit since but chances are they should not be affected. I will update this post in a few weeks when I return from the UK.
 
The last changed to the UB T&Cs were I think July 2009.

The main thing I noticed about that was the previous "charge free" UK withdrawals, changed to be free only if it was an RBS Group machines. (forgetting about those wee bandits you find in pubs and shops) Otherwise the only other time I've seen the CHARGE & ERTF is against card transactions in shops at 2% (1% charge and 1% ERTF)

The last time I was caned for an ATM charge (I should have complained about as I think they were being generous over a few things with the volcanic ash cloud at that time) was a withdrawal from a Lloyds TSB machine in Holyhead as the RBS one was conveniently (for them) not working!
 
Back
Top