NIB Ditch Free Banking For New Customers and now existing customers


SerotoninSid - I am in the same situation as you, I use the account for servicing mortgages only. I threw out the ATM cards that I received. Based upon your post I am now expecting that they will not charge me fees as the account is a servicing account only.

Let us know if either a) you hear otherwise or b) see any charges coming through.

Cheers
 
Maybe no harm to get them to clarify this for you - and assign it as a servicing a/c only. In my case, I don't expect to hear any different - as I've had this confirmed in writing - so only possible deviation is an error on their part in the event that they applied fees.
 
I've not heard anything from NIB in relation to my Easy account - perhaps as I have a nominee stock account (which they added fees to last year) they reckon they're getting enough out of me?
 
Same here. Have an Easy for settlement of custody account, sales/purchases and corporate actions and nothing else. Pay €40 a year for the custody account.
 
It seems that NIB are gradually informing customers about the current account changes.

Meanwhile, NIB/Danske have announced today that they are . Death by a 1,000 cuts?
 
When I signed my mortgage agreement, I was also given a 2 page "Conditions for NIB LTV mortgages".

It states in 3(a), "You must maintain, for the duration of your loan, on of our Easy, EasyPlus, or Prestige Packages. If such package is not maintained by you we reserve the right to convert your LTV rate to out then applicable home loan rate(fixed or Var as the case may be); and..."

This is different from the prementioned morgage agreement clause(section 6), in that it specifically mentions the package names. Now that Easy, EasyPlus or Prestige Packages will no longer exist, is it fair to argue that the clause is void due to their actions?

Has anyone who uses the current acc for day-to-day banking (soon to be charged for the service), been able to hand back cards etc, and have their account set back to a feeless "Service Type" account, and freely move to another bank for free banking, whilst not affecting their LTV tracker ?
 
I'm working on it.

I wrote in late March and asked them either to confirm that the requirement in our Loan agreement was no longer operative or, failing that, to convert my Freebank account to a fee-free "facility" account, to be used solely for the purposes of maintaining mortgage repayments. I must say I was quite surprised by the slightly gung-ho tone of the initial response I got last week from the Branch Manager. Thanks to the references supplied earlier in this thread by ang1170, I've now given him a brief lesson in the Consumer Credit Act, 1995, Part IX, art. 127.—(1) “Prohibition on linking of services”, the Banking Consumer Protection Code and the Consumer Protection Code, 2012, which provides a bit more detail, cf. [broken link removed], and particularly Art. 3.18:

I'll keep y'all posted.

[Edit: Wolverine, the EasyPlus and Prestige Packages do still exist, but their fee structures are quite uncompetitive. As regards the discrepancy you refer to between the actual Loan Agreement and the additional 2-page list of conditions, we were also asked to sign up to both wordings in December 2008, when we came off a three-year fixed rate period and (luckily) were allowed to revert to our LTV ECB tracker rate.]
 
Folks, just catching up on all of this now. Many thanks for all the posts.

I'm in the position of only using the NIB easy account to service my mortgage payments, I don't think I've ever taken money out of the account (no ATM or Cheque book) in the past 8 years.

Very interested to hear how @DrMoriarty gets on as I think I will doing exactly the same thing.
 
Any definitive answers on this yet?

I do very little transactions and own both an AIB and an NIB Current Account.

NIB will be charging €20 per year + transaction fees which, for me, will be minimal - perhaps 2 automated/1 manual transactions per month at a cost of €9.60 for the year. NIB: €29.60 per year

AIB will be charging €4.50 per quarter + transaction fees which, for the above transactions would be €8.40. AIB: €26.40 per year


I could open a PAYG BOI account for which the above transactions would cost €10.08 per year or an Ulster Bank account which is free, but for how long?
  • At the moment, it's looking like the AIB account is DEFINITELY worth closing.
  • I don't see Ulster Bank staying free much longer - possibly a few months to get a load of disgruntled AIB/NIB customers signed up
  • BOI is pretty tempting but, for the value of about €16.32 per year, it might be handier to just go with NIB so that my mortgage and current account are in the same place
The free banking for keeping a minimum balance isn't worth it because you'd get at lease €60 by putting that balance in a good instant access savings account.
 
Yakuza said:
I've not heard anything from NIB in relation to my Easy account - perhaps as I have a nominee stock account (which they added fees to last year) they reckon they're getting enough out of me?
Click to expand...
I thought that as well but now I too have received the dreaded letter.....
 
I'd suggest you move quickly if you don't want to be caught for fees when the switchover occurs on 1st June. I initially wrote to contest the switch from our Freebank account in late March; it took a fortnight for the matter to be referred to my local branch manager, whose response was unsatisfactory. In my reply to his letter, on April 23rd, I repeated our request that NIB either remove the requirement to maintain a current account to service our mortgage, or convert our Freebank account to a facility account, in either case without prejudice to the maintenance of our LTV ECB Tracker rate. I asked him either to confirm one of these solutions or to escalate it to a formal complaint, and it took another nine days for their complaints department to acknowledge receipt and promise to respond "within 20 days" (bringing us up to 29th May, just before the new fees kick in). In the meantime I've started the process of opening an alternative account (with BoI).
 
ronaldo said:
I could open a PAYG BOI account for which the above transactions would cost €10.08 per year
Click to expand...

or go with a BoI ´Flat Fee' account and comply with the below conditions, which almost anyone can do by moving money around, and get free banking.

 
CiaranT said:
or go with a BoI ´Flat Fee' account and comply with the below conditions, which almost anyone can do by moving money around, and get free banking.
Click to expand...

That would work for most people. However, I'm living in the South/working in the North. My money is paid in sterling and the vast majority of it stays in sterling - I wouldn't have €3,000 to lodge during the quarter.

True, I could lodge and withdraw €500 six times but that would add to the hassle of making the 9 online transactions per quarter - all for a saving of about €7.50 in my case.

To be honest, I'm just going to stick with the NIB 24/7 account. That way, I'll have ABSOLUTE certainty that they'll be unable to wiggle out of my tracker mortgage deal.

At the end of the day, the Current Account service will be costing me less than the annual government stamp duty on a credit card I've just cancelled.

I think the reality is that banks SHOULD be charging for this service but, in not charging in the past, have raised consumers expectations. True, a lot of people will say "but I'm providing them with my money" but another way to look at it is that they are providing secure storage of your money - similar to how you'd pay a company to provide safe storage of investment gold/silver/etc.

Most on this site would probably agree with the above but the point of this site is to help people in securing the best deal available on the market which, for now, is free banking.
 
i had easy but upgraded to easy plus due to the above changes. i didn't want a 24/7 account once i heard about it and that is why i upgraded. when i had easy i had a standard debit card but according to the nib website if you have easy plus or higher you can have a premium debit card. what is a premium nib debit card anyway? i did ring them but they told me there is no difference and that my card will not be changed. why say standard debit card for 24/7 and premium debit card for easy plus/prestige??? there must be a difference.
 
marathonic said:
I think the reality is that banks SHOULD be charging for this service
Click to expand...

Again, the reality is also that banks should pay customer interest on positive balances on their current account.

The reality is also that banks make a fortune out of non-EUR transactions such as ATM withdrawals abroad.

Charging (all aspects) and interest need to be spoken about in tandem, not in isolation.
 
Got a letter from NIB today saying that my Easy account was being moved to a Loan Servicing account with no fees. Seems like a fair solution to me. I have the option of contacting them if I want to keep current account facilities but otherwise I will no longer be able to withdraw funds from the account as it will only exist to fund the mortgage.
 
As an aside, for those who qualify, have you received the new rate of Mortgage Interest Relief - mine has not hit yet even though I was told it would be April. They have yet to respond to my e-mail on Tuesday.
 
Yorky - I rang NIB today as I also received a letter advising me of the transfer of my account to a loan servicing account. In relation to my Mortgage Interest Relief payment I was told that this could be paid to my UB current account via standing order or by calling NIB and they would action it over the phone at no cost. I have asked for this in writing. I pointed out that NIB make a song and dance in their letter about all of their investment in technology but yet the phone call solution proposed in a backward step. The guy I spoke to agreed.
 
Yes, do get it in writing as verbal holds no value. I went this route and the response suddenly changed completely.
 
NIB Current A/C

I have both a current A/C and custody account with NIB.
I contacted them to close both.
As custody account only holds (useless untradeable) Anglo shares.
they say they cannot close it (it already costs €40 p/a),
and, because if I have a custody account I must have a current account also.
So an element of blackmail exists.
 
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