BAILED-out bank AIB is to stop paying interest on its current accounts.
The move was confirmed yesterday as the State prepared to pump billions more into Ireland's two biggest banks.
It also emerged that thousands of staff at AIB and Bank of Ireland (BoI) continue to receive free banking and discounted interest rates.
AIB, which has around one million customers, will stop interest payments on current accounts from June. The bank said it had no plans to hike fees and charges on current accounts.
At present, people who keep a credit balance of at least €1,500 in their accounts are able to earn interest on that.
However, since the banking crisis started, AIB has been steadily cutting that rate, reducing it from a high of 4pc on the High Interest Current Account to just 1pc today.
The Personal Current Account, which had paid interest of up to 0.5pc at one stage, will no longer pay any interest from June 15.
Earlier this year, Bank of Ireland made it difficult for consumers to avail of free banking by requiring nine payments to be made out of an account to avoid charges