AIB change Conditions for Free Banking

 

Thanks! lots of clips there.

I think its a personal choice, if someone is happy with the service they receive from an Irish Bank the price will be negligible. Others may find they are not willing to pay for the service and switch to the only fee-free bank in Ireland which is not Irish.

The bank cite transaction processing charges as a significant factor in their consideration for the reintroduction of fees. If people do leave because of this perhaps AIB will reduce those transaction processing fees and so overall cut costs. I dont know the ins and outs of this but I am sure AIB had considered this before they introduced fees. They done a similar U turn on fees around 2003/04 (I think) and they didn't collapse - people went for NIB and PTSB at that time for their free-alternative.

I think if you consider this in the current context it may be acting in haste - I have been told the alternative is to introduce fees later this year. I have no proof of this yet. Like the PTSB example earlier.

The offered an alternative to the AIB fees - now PTSB charge a flat fee of €12.

The cost of convenience here is switching banks and not just the annual / quarterly fees.

I just think its personal really. I would consider the entire arrangement before moving banks.
 
May or may not be a silly question but can you switch banks if you currently have a loan out. Can you transfer the loan account with your current/deposit account?
 
CiaranT said:
Act fast. The whole switching process will take weeks from accounting opening to AIB account closure. Your AIB account needs to be closed by May to avoid fees.
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Hi, has anybody left AIB to move to another bank recently?

I could do with some advice on my situation:

I have 3 AIB savings accounts that are due to accrue interest on April 1st and have also recently got a mortgage in principal from AIB that we will be hopefully drawing down on in the middle of May.

I have been in contact with the bank regarding the issues with fees on joint current accounts and unfortunately the fees will be charged on joint account as well if 2,500 is not left in joint account at all times.
This means I will need to leave 2,500 in my own account, the other half will need to leave 2,500 in her account & we will also need to leave 2,500 between us in our joint account.

I want to close my AIB accounts & move to Ulster or BOI but still plan to go ahead and draw down the mortgage from AIB but am reluctant to close any of my accounts before doing so incase this jeopardises the deal in principal.
If I draw down the mortgage in middle of May & then close all my AIB accounts before the 25th of May will I be liable for any fees owed?

Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
Personally I'd wait to see if the other banks increase their fees. Be a pain to move all the acccounts only to find the others match the charges on AIB, or close enough to make no difference.
 
AlbacoreA said:
Personally I'd wait to see if the other bands increase their fees. Be a pain to move all the acccounts only to find the others match the charges on AIB, or close enough to make no difference.
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Thanks for the reply. I've never had a problem with AIB, am over 20yrs saving with them but I can't justify or afford to have 7,500 from the household sitting idle in the current & joint accounts.

I can take a one off hit on the fees for the 1st quarter before closing my accounts if I don't get to close them in time but I will definitely have to leave & move to BOI or Ulster were the conditions of the free banking are much more achievable as I use 24hour banking alot.

Thanks, BB
 
I guess it comes down to the cost of the transactions for each individual. I don't make that many myself.
 
BoI requirement for free banking is quite stringent. UB are currently the best in the market, but personally I can't see that continuing. Provision of "free banking" makes no sense commercially for a bank. It is a legacy of the "silly season" where marketers dictated bank pricing policy. I don't see UB continuing with their practise as provision of a banking service is expensive and they are likely to amend their policy in line with other banks.
 
Sue Ellen said:
Have there been any developments on the Sunday Times article a few months back about Ulster Bank ending free banking?
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No news.

Ulster with either
(1) Not introduce fees or
(2) Introduce fees for new customers only or
(3) Introduce fees for all customers.

I think Ulster will
(1) Wait a while and 'land grab' AIB customers over the next few weeks/months and
(2) Then introduce fees for new customers only.

Why?

PTSB could not retrospectively apply fees to their legacy 'Switch' customers as it would have violated the sales documentation for this product.

NIB could not retrospectively apply fees to their legacy 'FreeBank' customers (not 'Easy' customers) as it would have violated the sales documentation for this product.

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.
 

I was looking up the BoI website and I couldn't see anything that said the nine transactions have to be to external accounts?
 
Kkma said:
I was looking up the BoI website and I couldn't see anything that said the nine transactions have to be to external accounts?
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Your are right, they do not need to be external accounts.

BoI orginally said they need to be external accounts but then changed this to also allowing internal accounts.

I have made this point clear in the best buys.
 
I spent the last few months moving *to* AIB, after several decades of banking with BoI.

I closed out my current, credit & savings accounts with them. It all started with getting an AIB mortgage a while back. The AIB customer service seemed good compared to BoI, but not good enough to move everything. Subsequently when we asked BoI for some investment advice on something, the guy who came to our house wasn't even in the slightest bit interested in finding out our situation, made loads of incorrect assumptions, didn't listen to our corrections and was effectively (and as expected) just a salesman trying to flog his wares. Again though, not enough to get us to close everything out.

What started the switch was a conversation with someone where they talked about their AIB visa that gave them 0.5% back on their purchases. Ever since Amex Blue (with 1% back) went away, I had been meaning to look for a replacement but was typically lazy. I went along to AIB, got the form, filled it in, supplied the usual documentation and a few weeks later my new card was set up. It took a short while to switch the few direct debit & repeat payments that we had setup on the credit card, but soon everything was sorted.

Then I started thinking about moving the current account too - AIB *was* free and I met the BoI terms for free banking also, so there was no difference there. Switching was relatively straight forward - I did it myself as I didn't trust the banks to do it properly. It was easy - just contact the various utilities that had my payment details and ask to update them (involving a new form for the direct debits & standing orders). It did take about 2 months for everything to flush out. Once the last transaction was cleared on the BoI stuff, I sent them in a letter saying "I want to close this account, that account and the other account" and that was that.

Relatively painless.

And then AIB introduced their fees. Bah.

I'm not going through the process all over again to move everything back, but the 0.5% cashback will be largely used up paying the fees instead of going into my pocket.

Hey ho.

The moral of the story is - it's not that much trouble to switch. Just stay focused, check the details, be thorough. Oh, and don't do like I did and give your payroll department the wrong bank account number. It's not a fun experience thinking your salary is floating off there in the ether somewhere.

z
 

I am AIB staff, and proud of it. I earn around 37k. There has been no bonus for the last 3 years, 4 this year. Every bank will bring back fee's, it is a matter of who blinks first.
 
Being with AIB for almost 15 years.

These new charges are disappointing but have decided to bite the bullet and stay with AIB anyway. Have had no issues since in the past with AIB.

So how can I try to keep the charges as low as possible.

For example taking out more money in one rather than smaller mounts more frequently. Less Internet usage Etc

Not sure if it is possible but open to suggestions.
 
random2011 said:
So how can I try to keep the charges as low as possible.
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One way to reduce charges ...

Use your credit card for transactions rather than your debit card.

Your credit card is free for transactions. Just pay the full balance off each month.
 
castleforbes said:
Every bank will bring back fee's, it is a matter of who blinks first.
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4 of the 5 Irish clearing banks already apply fees on the majority of their current account products. Hence, it has already happened, bar Ulster Bank. Ulster will blink, but as I have said, they may struggle to apply fees to their 'Step' customers.

In the medium to longer term, fees will hopefully go again. A proper single European banking market will open the door to, low-cost-to-operate, internet based current accounts with zero charges akin to KeyTrade Belgium but with pan European clearing abilities.
 
"I'm not going through the process all over again to move everything back" - I would - go back to BOI or go to Ulster Bank.
 
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