BoI to change fee structure - No Longer Possible to Get Free Banking

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Yakuza

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BoI are changing their fee structure in August, details here.
It looks like no more flat-fee option, just a quarterly charge and a charge per transction.

I have two accounts with them, a joint one with the missus (on their PAYG structure) and my main account (that I pay the bills with, get paid into etc) on the flat fee structure. Going on the last quarter (a typical one, our usage doesn't change much from quarter to quarter), in both cases we end up paying more in fees under the new regime (over double in the case of the flat fee - 90 txns (which I hit most quarters) goes from €11.40 to €23).

Another way to gouge a few more euro out of the public...
 
Thanks for the heads-up. I was planning on building up the 3,000 balance to avoid transaction charges but there's really no advantage to doing that if I still get saddled with the new 5 euro maintenance charge anyway.
 
Unless you have hundreds of transaction charges a quarter, leaving €3000 in an account to avoid fees isn't the best way to go - you could get €60 (minus DIRT) if you left it on deposit in RaboBank which would more or less offset four quarterly fees. That, and the security concerns of leaving money in there on a permanent basis which could be skimmed would be two reasons I never considered that.
 
I did a little mucking around on Excel - the only customers who benefit from this are those playing the flat fee and doing less than 32 transactions a quarter (and they should have been on the PAYG system) or those on the PAYG scheme and doing 63 or more transactions a quarter (and they should have been on the flat fee scheme).

Basically, no-one who is on the current fee scheme appropriate to their needs will benefit from this, only those who were on the wrong scheme will benefit (and only in the sense that they won't be getting as much gouged out of them in fees as they were before - the bank has already coined it in from these people who don't proactively manage their transaction fees)
 
Can't have a rabo account as I'm not resident in Ireland - had to give it up. The interest lost on having that money in savings was not so much more than I would have saved on fees but with another 20 euro on top...... I do have a BoI savings account and I believe I can get an ATM card for that, which is probably what I'll end up doing. I lose the convenience of being able to use the BoI ATM/visa debit card in eurozone countries to take out money without any charges (my German ATM card can be used in eurozone countries but there's a minimum 4.50 charge per withdrawal) so I'll just have to be a bit more organised when travelling and that's that. The other few things that I use my Irish account for should all be possible from the savings account.
 
This is quite annoying. I just opened a BoI account BECAUSE of their 28c per transaction fee structure as the account was just meant to receive one lodgement and make one direct debit per month. That would have cost me €6.72 a year and would have been the cheapest option available as UB introduce fees soon. So now I will pay €24.80. Not impressed that they didn't mention this just last month.
 
Sad that it is no longer possible to get free banking, for most people, in BoI.

No doubt other banks will follow BoI's lead and cut free banking via waivers.

For now, I hope BoI customers switch to PTSB before the fees come into play.
 
I'm moving all my remaining DDs to my free German accounts as soon as the SEPA deadline comes around next February. Then that'll be it for me and Irish banks.
 
It is possible to change to PTSB, but who knows what fees they'll charge in 6 months time? If someone said change to us and your fees are fixed for 3 years, they'd get market share.
 
ardmacha said:
It is possible to change to PTSB, but who knows what fees they'll charge in 6 months time? If someone said change to us and your fees are fixed for 3 years, they'd get market share.
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- That attitude is what BOI are banking on - dont fall for it - switch and you can review in 6 months time. I get your point but people must switch.

Everybody should move to PTSB or EBS - yes - everybody. Forget about AIB, Ulster,Danske and BOI.
 
ardmacha said:
It is possible to change to PTSB, but who knows what fees they'll charge in 6 months time? If someone said change to us and your fees are fixed for 3 years, they'd get market share.
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Yeah but the new PTSB current account package is a medium term ploy. I would guess that it will be still around in 6 months time.

The reality is that the more people who switch to PTSB, the less likely PTSB are to follow suit.

The other point of note is that PTSB normally launch a new product name when they change fees. At least, that is the way PTSB have acted in the past. Hence, if you switch now, you might get to stay on the current PTSB product, even if they apply fees to new customers at a future date.
 
Does it apply to the current quarter if the current quarter ends after the 19th August? Why are they required to give notice only 2 months before when quarters are 3-month long?
 
theresa1 said:
Current quarter ends 16th August 2013 so get out of BOI current account before then.
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Feeling a bit stuck - I'm pretty sure they're going to make pay the fees for the current account for the quarter if I close it, even if I had >3000 till the closure
 
It should also be noted that the €5 quarterly fee is AS WELL AS 20c per transaction fee. So it may still be worth your while having €3000 in your current account if you want to avoid the per transaction fee. This means you current account would "only" cost you €20 per year plus lost interest on that €3000 (up to €60) so about €80 a year.

Yes you could potentially earn €60 interest after DIRT on that €3000 but then you would pay per transaction. €60 would give you 300 20c transactions per year - or less than one a day. As I'm stuck with BOI at the mo, I would still rather keep the €3,000 in my current account and not have to worry about fees or take out large amounts of cash each time.
 
I've been looking into the various accounts listed in the best buys post (thanks for maintaining that CiaranT by the way, really well laid out and informative). The EBS money manager account looks like it'd be most suitable for my needs, only snag is that they list being resident in Ireland as one of the requirements. Might call in to see them anyway next time I'm back and see how strict that requirement is. The BoI current account is going, one way or another.
 
BazzaDP said:
It should also be noted that the €5 quarterly fee is AS WELL AS 20c per transaction fee. So it may still be worth your while having €3000 in your current account if you want to avoid the per transaction fee. This means you current account would "only" cost you €20 per year plus lost interest on that €3000 (up to €60) so about €80 a year.

Yes you could potentially earn €60 interest after DIRT on that €3000 but then you would pay per transaction. €60 would give you 300 20c transactions per year - or less than one a day. As I'm stuck with BOI at the mo, I would still rather keep the €3,000 in my current account and not have to worry about fees or take out large amounts of cash each time.
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Why are you stuck with them?
 
Janet said:
I've been looking into the various accounts listed in the best buys post (thanks for maintaining that CiaranT by the way, really well laid out and informative). The EBS money manager account looks like it'd be most suitable for my needs, only snag is that they list being resident in Ireland as one of the requirements. Might call in to see them anyway next time I'm back and see how strict that requirement is. The BoI current account is going, one way or another.
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Janet from February you'll be able to just use your German account for anything you need in Ireland. ;-)
 
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