AIB change Conditions for Free Banking

CiaranT said:
Ulster will blink, but as I have said, they may struggle to apply fees to their 'Step' customers.
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Why would they struggle to introduce fees for a specific account? NIB have done this to their freebank account. Would the name not imply you got free banking and therefore be contrary to decent marketing or advertising? Didn't stop NIB.

NIB have introduced fees, I can't see why UB would have a struggle.

Unless it expressly stated you're entitled to fee-free banking for life or the duration of holding the account I don't see how they would struggle.

At least paying fees to AIB is actually helping the Irish economy.
 
As a BOI customer who uses internet banking a lot, I would be very disappointed if they introduced 20c transaction fees for online transactions, similar to what AIB have done.

Banks have been encouraging us to use internet banking for the last few years. Why are AIB's transaction fees for this so high?
 
kimmage said:
Why would they struggle to introduce fees for a specific account? NIB have done this to their freebank account. Would the name not imply you got free banking and therefore be contrary to decent marketing or advertising? Didn't stop NIB.
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PTSB did not introduce fees for their 'Switch' customers as the account was advertised as an "account with no transaction fees".

NIB introduced fees for their 'Easy' account customers. Are you certain that NIB also did applied fees for their 'FreeBank' customers? I have read reports that they excluded, the very old legacy, 'FreeBank' customers?

Ulster might be able to apply fees to their 'Step' customers but it would seem to be against the sales documentation for this product which advertises this product as a "free transaction fees" product. It is possible that Ulster will exclude 'Step' customers if they introduce fees akin to PTSB. Maybe they won't.
 
CiaranT said:
Similarly, the existing Ulster 'Step Account' is clearly stated as a "Transaction fee free banking" account. People have opened it on this basis. Hence, like old legacy 'NIB FreeBank' and 'PTSB Switch' accounts, which still do not carry fees, I think Ulster Bank will struggle to introduce fees to 'Step' customers as it is likely to violate the sales documentation. (I would think)

All the more reason to switch now while 'Step' accounts are still available.
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CiaranT, with regards to your theory above, do you feel this applies to both the "Standard" and "Step" current accounts which UB offer?
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Or do you feel it only applies to the "Step" account and if so, why?

Thanks
 
PolkaDot said:
As a BOI customer who uses internet banking a lot, I would be very disappointed if they introduced 20c transaction fees for online transactions, similar to what AIB have done.
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BoI already have transaction fees of 20 cent per transaction. This is only applied if you do not satisfy their T&C's.
 
PolkaDot said:
CiaranT, with regards to your theory above, do you feel this applies to both the "Standard" and "Step" current accounts which UB offer?
[broken link removed]

Or do you feel it only applies to the "Step" account and if so, why?

Thanks
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Both.

The sales blurb clearly states:
Transaction fee free banking - no monthly subscription. Charges for additional services may apply.
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I could be wrong, maybe Ulster will find a way to apply fees. However, the sales blurb clearly states that the product offers transaction free banking.
 
kimmage said:
Why would they struggle to introduce fees for a specific account? NIB have done this to their freebank account. Would the name not imply you got free banking and therefore be contrary to decent marketing or advertising?
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Not quite. NIB are withdrawing the Freebank product and compelling customers to move to a choice of fee-charging alternatives. The only option is to move, which I will do once I've got written, duly authorised confirmation that keeping the Freebank account open is no longer a condition of my tracker mortgage contract. I wrote to ask them for this last week, when "the letter" finally dropped through my letterbox.

kimmage said:
At least paying fees to AIB is actually helping the Irish economy.
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No comment...
 
DrMoriarty - Thanks for the clarrification about the FreeBank product. There was a lot of confusion/conflicting reports about what NIB were doing with their FreeBank customers. Interesting how NIB could not apply the fees to their FreeBank product so they forced all customers to move to a new product. I knew NIB were doing this with their Easy cusomers but not their FreeBank customers.
 
has the world gone mad or is it just me...

The banks are being allowed charge you for taking your money out of your virtually no interest account.
I can understand them charging for a loan/overdraft, but for you to withdraw your own money!!!
We were all sold years ago (showing my age) on the benefits & security of having an ATM card, the risk of the armoured truck being robbed was of a great one, so the benefit to the employer and the bank was great and no impact on the employee. Now that the money is automatically in our account, we now have to pay to get it out!!!!!
I say to lets go back to the days of being paid cash by our employer. Then the banks can fight over what cash I have left to save.

So going forward would the best thing to do, (as there is little chance of them going back to us being paid in cash now that we are all roped in) be to put my wages straight in to my credit card account and pay for everything from this.
 
cashier said:
internet only banks will allow customers set up an online non fee paying current accounts and then just pay for everything else by visa debit card.
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Matter of time until pan European internet only banks arrive on the scene and offer real competition.
 
Examiner: AIB fees drive account holders to switch banks

http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/aib-fees-drive-account-holders-to-switch-banks-190113.html

Ulster Bank and Permanent TSB look set to be the main beneficiaries of AIB’s decision to introduce fees on their current accounts.

Both recorded a sharp rise in the number of people inquiring about opening or switching accounts.
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An often forgotten about point here, is that long term PTSB customers, even if they currently don't have a current account, can open a 'Switch' current account and get free banking ....

Permanent TSB said that since the announcement, they had received an increase of between 30% to 40% in the number of people looking to switch accounts.

A spokesperson for the bank said these were not people looking to open new accounts but existing customers of the bank who were now using their Permanent TSB account as their primary bank account.

Any customer of Permanent TSB that opened an account over two years ago is entitled to free banking.
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Ulster Bank, which is the only bank in the country that offers free banking, said they had received a notable increase in enquiries since the announcement that AIB were bringing back fees. A spokesperson for Ulster Bank said: "We have seen a notable increase in both customer enquiries and switchers."

Ulster Bank was unable to guarantee it would keep banking free into the future. A spokesperson said: "Current account fees, like all our products and services, are continually under review."
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The article goes on to say that NIB and BoI are not seeing a large amounb of switching.

Indo: Banks charging customers up to €200 a year for current accounts



Annual bank charges can vary by as much as €168, a survey by the Irish Independent has found.

Our survey found a typical customer spends between €28 and €196 a year just to operate a current account.
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We found Ulster Bank has both the lowest and highest prices, with their standard current account cheapest to run at €27.93

Ulster Bank has seen a "notable increase in both customer enquiries and switchers" since AIB announced the end to its free banking offer, she said.
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Great to see that the amount of customers closing their AIB accounts seems to be soaring.
 
No problem, glad the information helped you. All you now need to do is close the AIB account before fees begin in late May.
 
I read an article in the Sunday Business Post about re-introduction of fees (I can't access it online but I think it was "Banking on Transaction Fees" in last Sunday's paper (08/04)). Something that surprised me was that transaction fees were only dropped by AIB and BOI in 2005 / 2006. I had genuinely forgotten that "free banking" was such a recent phenomenon.

As others have said, free banking is going to become more and more scarce. Here's an article about Andrew Bailey - effectively Head of the UK prudential financial regulator - arguing why he thinks free banking is bad for the consumer

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...top-mis-selling-FSAs-Andrew-Bailey-warns.html
 
CiaranT said:
An often forgotten about point here, is that long term PTSB customers, even if they currently don't have a current account, can open a 'Switch' current account and get free banking ....
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You're providing some good useful information here.


I've been a PTSB customer for years - could be anything up to 20 years or more and my balance is 5 cents :)


I've found a statement and it says it's the CashExtra account. According to the PTSB booklet, the charges on this are:


Cashextra Account
• An account fee of €3.81 applies if more than 10 chargeable
automated transactions are completed per quarter.​

• A cheque book is not available with this account


I assume this means I can't open the Switch Account but can continue to use my current account with a max charge of €3.81 per quarter (and possibly nothing if I have a low number of transactions).


Is this correct?

https://www.permanenttsb.ie/media/permanenttsb/pdfdocuments/permanent-tsb-personal-and-business-banking-charges.pdf
 
millieforbes said:
As others have said, free banking is going to become more and more scarce.
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Short-term, agree.

Long-term, disagree. Long-term, (1) there will be no bricks and mortar branches. (2) There will be online only banks that offer current accounts. (3) There will be pan European cash clearing and hence real pan European current account competition. i.e. much lower cost for the bank and far more competition. Free transaction banking will return. Look at KeyTrade Belgium for a sign of things to come.
 
ronaldo said:
You're providing some good useful information here.
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Thanks.

ronaldo said:
I've been a PTSB customer for years - could be anything up to 20 years or more and my balance is 5 cents :)
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Is your account dormant at this stage? When was the last transaction?


ronaldo said:
I've found a statement and it says it's the CashExtra account. According to the PTSB booklet, the charges on this are:


Cashextra Account
• An account fee of €3.81 applies if more than 10 chargeable
automated transactions are completed per quarter.​

• A cheque book is not available with this account


I assume this means I can't open the Switch Account but can continue to use my current account with a max charge of €3.81 per quarter (and possibly nothing if I have a low number of transactions).


Is this correct?

https://www.permanenttsb.ie/media/permanenttsb/pdfdocuments/permanent-tsb-personal-and-business-banking-charges.pdf
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I am reasonably certain that what you have said above is correct. Your account opening pre-dates the arrival of the 'Switch' account product.
 
If there's anything that automatically makes an account dormant, mine should be.

I'm still receiving statements though - the latest this year (and my balance went from €0.04 to €0.05 a few years ago) :)

I've a NIB LTV tracker so am trying to figure out whether to just stick with their new, chargeable account or try to get onto their free servicing account and re-awakening my PTSB account.

The only thing is, I don't have an ATM card, and never had. I also don't see any ATM related charges for this account so am unsure whether one is available. I think a call to the bank is in order.

EDIT: Just noticed the other main fee on the Cash Extra account is a DD/Standing Order set up fee of €5. I think I'll either stick with the NIB product, which is a fairly sub-standard offering but guarantees my ability to keep my tracker, or else, open an Ulster Bank free account. I'm thinking the free account won't be free for long so I'll probably save a maximum of €10-€15 by doing this.
 
I presume AIB will be sending out letters to affected customers to notify them of the changes?
 
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