SBP article!!!

I

irishpancake

Guest
What are we to make of this article by Louise McBride, particularly this quote:

"For example, Permanent TSB's loyalty current account waives account fees for those who keep an average credit balance of €1,000 or more.

If your salary is paid directly into a Loyalty current account, you are eligible for free banking for the first 18 months."

[broken link removed]

Has all the PTSB advertising been completely in vain, or what??
 
HI pancake

I'm sorry, I don't follow you. What point are you making?

Is the article wrong?
Is the advertising misleading?

You'll have to spell it out for us.

Brendan
 
I presume the point is that in spite of the high profile advertising by PTSB of their [broken link removed] "free" banking the message obviously has not gotten across to some financial journalists who still think that certain conditions must be met to get charges free banking from PTSB?
 
Yeah someone obviously didn't do their research which would kind of make you question the reliability of what they write.
 
Certain conditions do have to be met to get free banking from PTSB.

You have to have your mortgage with them to get 100% free banking.

Otherwise, the free banking only lasts for 18 months, then the charges kick in. If you have your salary mandated to your account, you get a reduction in fees after the 18-month period. There are other conditions (including the minimum balance talked about above) that will give you a further reduction in fees, but the bottom line is unless your mortgage is with PTSB, the free banking only lasts 18 months.

When the SB Post first started championing this account, I wrote to them (several times) to explain this. While their coverage wasn't technically wrong, I felt not including the 18-month info was misleading. I never got a response.

I should point out that this was last year, when the PTSB free bank marketing campaign was just starting. Reading the article referenced above, it seems like they may have changed the conditons since (i.e. minimum balance gets you free banking beyond 18 months).

And why do these articles never mention NIB's freebank account? If I was cynical, I might suggest it was because it takes less column inches to talk about a free account with no conditions.
 
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Brendan said:
HI pancake

I'm sorry, I don't follow you. What point are you making?

Is the article wrong?
Is the advertising misleading?

You'll have to spell it out for us.

Brendan
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Sorrry Brendan, i just thought the quoted information was so out-of-date as to be misleading, especially since PTSB have taken the lead in offering their fee-free switcher product, in conjunction with the introduction of the new account switching protocol earlier this year.

i think Clubman and moneyhoney got the point just right.:)

I think we punters deserve better from the Business Post, which has such a high journalistic reputation.

BTW, i thought your own contribution to the article was, as ever, rooted in good financial sense. :D
 
irishpancake said:
I think we punters deserve better from the Business Post, which has such a high journalistic reputation.
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Have you read any of the property "articles" recently? (Although this isn't limited to the SPB by any means.)
 
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moneyhoney said:
Yeah someone obviously didn't do their research which would kind of make you question the reliability of what they write.
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A journalist and research?????
 
Scotty said:
Certain conditions do have to be met to get free banking from PTSB.

You have to have your mortgage with them to get 100% free banking.
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Not sure what you mean by 100% free banking but I have had an account with PTSB for more than ten years, have never had a mortgage with them and have never paid bank charges (other than DD setup fees) by virtue of the fact that I have always maintained the required balance on my account.
 
ClubMan said:
Not sure what you mean by 100% free banking
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When I tried to open a free bank account with PTSB (last year, or perhaps very early this year), I was told that no charges would be applied to the account for the first 18 months only. After that, regular banking charges would apply. If I had my salary mandated to the account, I would get a 25% reduction on those charges. If I had a minimum balance, I would get an additional 25% reduction on the charges. But unless I had a mortgage with them, I was told, after 18 months, at least some banking charges would apply.
 
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Oh yeah - maybe the fact that my wages are (and have been over the years) lodged to the account helps too. Forgot about that...
 
Scotty said:
Have you read any of the property "articles" recently? (Although this isn't limited to the SPB by any means.)
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Scotty, i was really referring to journalism in the broader sense, as in their political coverage, etc. I consider this to be fair, balanced and accurate, if a little opinionated.

However, i want to take issue with you regarding your submission on the PTSB, which i feel is really misinformation.

Where in the terms and conditions of their [broken link removed] , is there any reference to a free-banking period limited to 18 months, or to the necessity of having a Mortgage with them, or to a minimum balance requirement. The T&C's are there, on page 18 of the PDF I have linked above.

If you are right in what you say, which i don't believe, then PTSB would have perpetrated a massive fraud on the Irish consumer, at the very least being guilty of misleading advertising , and would deservedly get their come-uppance from an increasingly aware public.
 
irishpancake said:
then PTSB would ... at the very least being guilty of misleading advertising
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If this was the case then it would not be the first time. :(
 
irishpancake said:
If you are right in what you say, which i don't believe, then PTSB would have perpetrated a massive fraud on the Irish consumer.
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Right, this is my point, and why I originally wrote to the paper.

It's possible the PTSB person I dealt with didn't know the full details of their then-new account.

It's also possible, as you say, they have perpetrated a massive fraud on the Irish consumer.

I'm sorry you don't believe me, but I can only report to you about my own experience (and that of my brother) with them several months ago.
 
Scotty said:
I'm sorry you don't believe me, but I can only report to you about my own experience (and that of my brother) with them several months ago.
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Scotty, I'm not saying i don't believe you, as i am sure that both you and your brother did experiance what you say you did. But as they say, that was then, etc.

What i don't believe, is that PTSB are imposing hidden conditions on their switch current account product, which would amount to false advertising at the very least, and possibly could get them into big trouble with [broken link removed] and the ASAI.

I have taken the trouble to e-mail PTSB about the SBP article, and what you said in your original post. Here is the relevent section of the reply, with obvious editorial on my part:

Dear IrishPancake,

Thank you for your recent enquiry regarding Permanenttsb's new Switch Current Account. Please see below features of the account and note the new hassle-free procedure for transferring your Current Account to Permanenttsb ! There is no limited time period on the terms and conditions, and there is no minimum balance required.You do not need to have a mortgage with Permanenttsb to avail of the account. There were criteria similar to those you have mentioned on a previous account type, the Loyalty Current Account, but these do not apply to the Switch Account.

Features of Permanenttsb Switch Current Account , etc, etc, (advertising....... irshpancake)
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Hopefully the PTSB will also take up the cudgels with the SBP to clarify the situation.

For my part, even though it does'nt seem so, I am not actually a customer with PTSB, but i was thinking of moving both my account and that of Lady Irishpancake to either NIB Freebank or the PTSB Switch Account, from the AIB, where i have had accounts for 30 years, yet they still charge me quarterly maintenance fees, transaction charges, etc, etc, despite being always in credit.

What's stopping me? Pure inertia!!! But no more, particularly after watching Eddie Hobbs on the telly last night.

(end of rant!!!!)
 
Ok, so it seems I and Louise McBride were talking about the loyalty account, and everyone else was talking about the Switch account, which is a truly free account from PTSB.

Thanks for clearing that up irishpancake.
 
I had a "Permanent TSB's loyalty current account" with all the conditions for years and when the "Switch Account" came in advertising I had to walk into the the branch, sign a form and since than I have no fees what so ever on my account. 100% free unless I take money out of the account outside the € Zone. Than I get ribbed off.

So if you have a "Permanent TSB's loyalty current account" you can switch to the free account too.
 
DublinTexas said:
100% free unless I take money out of the account outside the € Zone. Than I get ribbed off.
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How do you get ripped off? The [broken link removed] are clear and transparent. Is it, rather, the case that you think that they are too high for the service rendered? If so maybe putting money on your credit card and withdrawing it while abroad would yield better value? Alternatively buy cash or travellers cheques before you head away of that would work out cheaper (although I doubt it).
 
ClubMan said:
How do you get ripped off? The [broken link removed] are clear and transparent. Is it, rather, the case that you think that they are too high for the service rendered?
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3.5% of the value of the transaction is a "ripp off". Yes the charges are made clear but this fee is just outrages high.

The foreign bank usualy only charges 1.5% of the transaction to PTSB, so they get 2% on top of an exchange rate that is not the best anyhow.

Now 2% for doing nothing beside approving it is a good deal, don't you think. At least for the bank, not for me.
 
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