AIB current account holders to qualify for free banking

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MonsieurBond

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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]AIB current account holders to qualify for free transaction banking
[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] 04/04/2006 - 11:28:11[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] AIB customers with personal current accounts who, each quarter, use AIB phone/internet banking and their AIB debit card for one transaction will now qualify for free transaction banking.

Apparently, this is going to be officially launched within the next week or so.

This is going to put some pressure on BOI in particular.

No doubt, this is a pre-emptive strike to ward off the risk of BOSI and Danskebank/NIB stealing more customers.
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Interesting. I don't have an AIB debit card and will probably get one to avail of this (the free fees will easily pay for the €10 stamp duty.).
 
Very welcome news to me. The thoughts of changing bank to avail of free transactions was way too much hassle judging by many of the posts here about switcher accounts...


From the AIB [broken link removed]....


Qualifying criteria details
- have an AIB Current Account
- be registered for AIB Phone & Internet Banking
- have an AIB Debit Card


then every fee quarter:-


1. Use your AIB Debit Card to make a purchase transaction at a point of sale terminal, by telephone, mail order or Internet.


2. Make a debit transaction using AIB Phone & Internet Banking (e.g. pay a bill, top up a mobile, transfer money between accounts, transfer money to other branches and banks, make an international payment).
Where the customer meets the qualifying criteria, free transaction banking is automatic and no maintenance and transactions fees will be applied for that fee quarter.
Customers will not need to opt in for this offer. Service fees will still apply e.g. unpaids, duplicate statements and FX bureau transactions.
 
All those AIB customers who were struck by inertia could have saved money on banking transaction costs a long time before now.
 
Is there a government charge on a debit card?
 
Yes - €10 on a debit card (e.g. Laser). An additional €10 if it's also an ATM card. Per annum. See [broken link removed].
 
Well thats a tenner off any saving i am going to make
 
Are you sure it's not €20? Do (m)any banks do debit (e.g. Laser) only non ATM cards?

Also - aren't you going to pay the stamp duty with any bank so it's a fixed cost that you simply have to accept wherever you go unless you forego the use of certain types of card/bank service?
 
i already have an atm card so the extra charge should only be 10 euros. If i had changed bank to either ptsb or ulster i would not have had to have got a debit card and so would not have faced this extra charge
 
Isn't that all a bit convoluted? Why not just say it's transaction fee free banking or not rather than having to follow a flowchart to figure out whether or not you qualify?
 
They want to encourage people to move to electronic transactions. In return they will share the cost savings with customers. It's not really about free banking for the sake of competition. I predict they will bring back the fees in a few years when most people have gone electronic; AIB have had free fee deals before.

All those AIB customers who were struck by inertia
Click to expand...

What evidence do you have for your belief that AIB customers who did not switch were struck by inertia?
 
I wasn't struck by inertia. I have never received any bother with AIB (I'm sure many have) and was actually reasonably happy to pay for what I considered good service. Hence I kepy my account there based on my experiences, not laziness. I didn't spend much (if any) time beomaning the fact that I payed charges.

Of course the fact that it is free now is great-it's always better not to have to pay of course (every little helps etc.). Increased competition certainly appears to be working for the consumer.
 
Exactly CCOVICH. I evaluated the alternatives, and the AIB service is actually better for my needs. Plus the chances were something would go wrong with a standing order/direct debit despite the automated switching procedure. The extra time involved to correct it would cost me more than the fees saved, at least in the first year.

I can't understand the focus by IFSRA and others on bank charges, when there are far more significant issues facing the banking industry -- e.g. misselling of payment protection insurance and poor value investment products pushed by tied agents more interested in their commission than customer needs.
 
Bear in mind that AIB only produced charges , in my opinion, after realising that their SSIA fixed rate account was offering 4% interest. I have always maintained that this is why they brought in the charges in the first place. They insisted that anyone holding their SSIA account would have to service it thru' an AIB current account thus saying either pay your way or move. Of course, this condition was buried nicely in small print and was not something that would be even checked by anyone opening the account at the time. I choose to move rather than give them any further business even though I lost out on interest by moving. Strange that when the accounts start maturing that they change back again. So don't be fooled into thinking that its competition that was the motivation for this.
 
Can I take it there is no min balance required in your current account?
 

Really an issue for another thread, and maybe you're right, but IFRSA is more of a consumer watchdog IMHO that some kind of hard hitting regulator.
 
elcato said:
Bear in mind that AIB only produced charges , in my opinion, after realising that their SSIA fixed rate account was offering 4% interest.
Click to expand...

I honestly don't have any recollection of this as I was a BoI customer at that time. But I thought that current account charges were around before that time.


elcato said:
Strange that when the accounts start maturing that they change back again. So don't be fooled into thinking that its competition that was the motivation for this.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but when I see the moves made by ptsb, UB, BoSI, and BoI, I have to say that the AIB move looks like a response to those offerings. But that really doesn't bother me-it's free banking for me, and as long as the level of service I have experienced in the past doesn't decline, I won't second guess the motives too much.
 
MugsGame said:
What evidence do you have for your belief that AIB customers who did not switch were struck by inertia?
Click to expand...
None - but I never said/insinuated that most or all AIB customers who didn't switch were struck by inertia. I simply said that those that were could have saved money before now.
Who mentioned laziness? Or that bank charges might not be justified or a relatively minor cost/concern in the greater scheme of things?
CCOVICH said:
Increased competition certainly appears to be working for the consumer.
Click to expand...
It would work better/faster if people for whom bank charges were an issue switched sooner to institutions that did not charge them thus forcing the hands of other instutitons who persisted in levying them. Competition is also driven by the consumer but some consumers act passively as if competition just "happens", eventually and by default.
 

The BOI offering is pathetic - keep €500 (or more to allow for bank charges which BOI insist on taking out of your account suddenly each quarter without notifying you of the date in advance) in the account permanently, earning no interest? You would probably have to keep €750 in the accont most of the time in order to ensure you never dip below the €500 accidentally.

If you "invested" this "surplus" €750 in AIB's 4% PSP account you would get €30 in interest. How much are the BOI fees again? €45 a year!

I have a BOI account and while the AIB free banking is tempting, I don't trust them not to bring fees back in through the back door as other posters have said below. I am going to wait to see what happens with NIB/Danskebank and BOSI.

While the fees are an irritant, I am more interested in a bank that (for example) offers an overdraft rate at 21st century rates i.e. at 5 or 6 percent and not twice that.
 
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