NIB Ditch Free Banking For New Customers and now existing customers

 
Sorry. Being a new member, I've accidentally double posted my message.
I've also somehow failed to separate quotes from serotoninsid;1267372] from my own comments
Gabh le mo leithscéal.
 
Last edited:
bluckaneyr said:
I chose the word "convenience" because it is the most accurate word to sum up my position. You are telling me to replace it with the more pejorative "customer lethargy". You have no basis for presuming I'm lethargic.
Click to expand...
Ok, I agree - I should not presume that you are lethargic. In fact, that was not the intention. The option was presented to others as 'convenient'. I would label that in general as akin to customer lethargy. The lack of will for consumers to switch away from their current banking provider is well known.
Again, it's not a personal criticism. Furthermore, it's not a question specific to you or to me. You intimated to all readers that it had a value of €65. As outlined, I am skeptical of these types of products - as so much falls within the small print. For that reason, I briefly checked it out on their website and they certainly don't go into any detail on it there....in which case, it's impossible to determine what the nature of that cover is.
bluckaneyr said:
For the record, I have no connection with any bank whatever, other than as a customer.
Click to expand...
Ok, no worries. That's good enough for me. However, I'm sure you can appreciate the reason I queried it given it was your first post..nothing more than that.
 
If anyone is interested in the travel insurance that comes with NIB packages details are [broken link removed].

I have no connection with NIB only that I recently opened a current account with them and it was because of that I knew where to find the information on the website.
 
That's the location I was referred to by NIB also yesterday.
The cover for Prestige is somewhat more than that for the basic Easy Plus package.
The 24/7 package offers nothing.

I'm not saying people going on holidays should make their banking decisions around this one feature, but it's something to factor in at this time when a lot of people are reassessing what suits them.
 
I understand fully peoples contempt towards NIB with regard to switching the fee-free Current Account to a fee-paying Current Account. ​

Whilst it’s true that a lot of customers won’t switch purely to avoid the hassle, it’s wrong to assume that all customers that remain with NIB fall into this group.

I had a look at the ‘no-strings-attached’ product from Ulster Bank as well as some of the other products available. Being resident in the Republic of Ireland and working in Northern Ireland, all of my banking is done via Northern Ireland except for the following:

  • one monthly lodgment
  • one monthly mortgage payment (not sure whether this will attract a fee as it’s internal)
  • one monthly mobile direct debit (ending soon)
  • one annual life insurance direct debit

If my figures are correct, it’ll cost me €20 + (12 * €0.34) + (12 * €0.30) + €0.30 = €27.98.

As I don’t have a lot of activity in the account, the options that require minimum balances or a certain number of transactions don’t really suit me. The best options for me were Bank of Irelands PAYG option at €0.28 per transaction or Ulster Bank’s free option (but for how long).

One of the main reasons I stuck with NIB was fear of losing my tracker rate (which I now know wouldn’t have happened anyway).

The other reason is that I can lodge money in the post office on a Saturday and it’d be available in my account for any mortgage payments due on the Monday. With AIB, it took a couple of days for the transfer to complete. This reason for sticking with NIB is still a valid one.
 


I'm not exactly young, innocent and sensitive, so I can dust myself off and move on, but first time posters shouldn't be immediately greeted with instant suspicion, in my view. Also, were I posting that I was leaving NIB, would people be asking if I had a vested interest with another bank?

Some people will carry on with the 24/7 default option for whatever reason, some like me will change their banking arrangements within NIB based on what best suits their situation and some will move on elsewhere too, depending on their circumstances. Nobody has a monopoly of moral superiority based on which option fits them best.
It's even more complex, I feel. Different people will come up with different amounts they consider it worthwhile switching for. Some people switch insurance or banking arrangements for a euro. Others factor in the amount of time it will take to switch and what value that time has. I would put myself somewhere in the middle, but I regularly change my insurance arrangements none the less. Why have I been with NIB for 36 years? Because they have been very efficient and whenever an issue arose, it was resolved pleasantly. Others will have their own experiences, I've mine.

I've no mortgage consideration but I know one person who is delighted with the new NIB options, given it reduces his mortgage repayments. However, I'm glad that issue of charging for those current accounts linked to their mortgage terms and conditions looks like being resolved. The amount of money involved in the overall, the hassle it has produced and the fact that ordinary staff were unprepared to deal with the initial queries would seem to indicate this was a hiccup based on poor planning. I'm sure the lesson is learned.
 

Yes, and only you can put a value on what that's worth to you too.
Others can't just insist it has no value or is invalid.

In my case I was seeking the best arrangement for a combination of current and deposit accounts. I know it's impossible to put a precise value on this but money lodged in NIB is covered with a double line of protection, firstly under the Irish Deposit Protection Scheme and secondly the Danish Guarantee Fund.

If one line of deposit protection is better than none, then perhaps two levels of protection are better than one.
 
bluckaneyr said:
I'm not exactly young, innocent and sensitive, so I can dust myself off and move on, but first time posters shouldn't be immediately greeted with instant suspicion, in my view.
Click to expand...
No disrespect intended. I just thought it would be worthwhile to rule it in or out - and you've confirmed that - so no harm done. As a long time reader on AAM, it's something that does come up from time to time - and people are often queried in this way from what I can see.

bluckaneyr said:
Also, were I posting that I was leaving NIB, would people be asking if I had a vested interest with another bank?
Click to expand...
Everything is open to scrutiny on an open, public discussion board. That's what makes AAM the great resource it is.

Not sure where 'moral superiority' comes into it (or where that has been expressed?) but otherwise, I agree completely with all of the above - it's logical.
 

So Everything is open to scrutiny?

In 7 pages of this thread carrying 131 postings only one person was asked if they had a vested interest.
I am that person and you made the call.
Only one person was told in response to their first ever posting that I should rewrite that posting when I was directed to "Please replace convenience with customer lethargy". You made that call andI am that person being told to reword my first posting.
I believe that were I to have said I had severed my links with NIB, I would not have been asked if I had a vested interest in another bank.
Because I was staying with NIB for reasons I had stated in that posting, I was dismissed as having a "sunny disposition to NIB".
I believe that if I was moving from NIB I would NOT have been similarly dismissed with having "a frosty disposition to NIB".

That's what I believe.
You claim otherwise.
Thankfully it's not all about what either of us believes or claims, so time to move on.

The main point is that members who researched and argued their valid and just case throughout the thread have prevailed.
Well done to them all, very impressive.
 
@bluckaneyr: I assume from your post above that the 'moral superiority' comment was directed at me then. I'm not going to pick through your post above - as I've already addressed all of the points raised. This is a factual thread - lets not spoil that!


Build a bridge and get over it ...if it's convenient for you.
 
We have an average of 8 transactions weekly which meant we would be better off on either the Prestige or Easy Plus packages.

The Prestige package with the discount on the mortgage was attractive but this cannot be availed of with any other discount which we already have and the extra interest on savings for prestige account holders is a fixed term deposit until April 2013, thereafter it reverts to their standard prestige savings account, currently paying a poor 1.5%.

So we opted for the Easy Plus @ €75 annually, no transaction charges and free travel insurance, nothing else in this package would be of any benefit to us.

Had a call this week from our branch wanting to arrange a suitable time for our financial assessment, what financial assessment I enquired, the young lady went on to explain the Easy Plus came with a gold mastercard with a higher credit limit and an overdraft facility so necessitated a financial assessment.

Fair enough if we wanted an overdraft or increased limit on the credit cards.

But we don’t want an overdraft and only want the very low limit on the credit card which by choice we currently have, all we want is the travel insurance that comes with the package that we now have to pay €75 annually for.

Bottom line, if we don’t both go to our branch in person for a financial assessment we will get the Easy Plus package but only with the standard mastercard and not the gold which the travel insurance comes with.

Having banked with them for 10 years+, have or had mortgages and car loans, never missed a payment or been overdrawn and credit card paid in full every month, is this not asking a bit much simply to avail of the travel insurance ? I don’t think I could do it.

Has any existing customer with the standard mastercard managed to get the Easy Plus or Prestige package without having to call personally for a financial assessment ?
 
You could always put it to them that you'll consider continuing with their services once you've conducted your own financial assessment. After all, in the last three years NIB has written off over a billion euro in bad debt, or approx 10% of their entire loan book.

[broken link removed]
 

serotoninsid,
I certainly have ruffled a few feathers there, but you have moved from your initial unfounded comments about my "sunny disposition" and accusations of "lethargy' to now committing to being "factual".
Echoes of your former self in your final salutation, but lets build that bridge and move on.
 

I know exactly where you are coming from.

For my part, despite being a customer for 36 years, my wife and I were similarly invited to a financial assessment in advance of entering the new package, so it's not a requirement aimed at you specifically, it would seem.

Whether or not you go is a personal decision and you seem to have weighed up your benefit options carefully up to the point of this assessment requirement being raised.

For my part, I decided to go for the "assessment" because the Prestige / Platinum option was in my interest.
Also were I not to go and move elsewhere instead, the first thing I'd expect to be told by the alternative institution is that they too would require me to do a "face to face" assessment of a similar nature.

Best of luck either way.
 
Lads give it a rest please. Could we just go back on topic please, I'm tried of getting new post emails to my account just to read the last 20 posts that have done nothing for this thread.

Thank you.
 
Just worth mentioning that if you avail of the mortgage discount under the prestige account you are issued with a new mortgage agreement.

I declined the discount when faced with the new agreement as it was different to the agreement I had.

I did not trust NIB as I had to take them to the ombudsman before over attempts to change a mortgage agreement.
 
Hi All,

Finally heard back from NIB. (See email below).
I think it's a solution, but am a bit sceptical and parenoid as such.

(Dr Moriarty et al that have been very helpful in fighting NIB on this), IYO, would you think that this email is enough to cover myself in the future with regards to keeping my tracker safe ?

And is an email from an employee a safe bet, or should I request a headed letter to the effect?

Thanks,
Wolverine



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: 247StaffEnquiries <247staffenquiries@nationalirishbank.ie>
Subject: Fw: National Irish Bank
To:


Dear x,

Thank you for your email and apologies for the delay in responding to your original email.

I can confirm that your current account can be converted to a fee free servicing account. If you to decide to convert the account to a servicing account you will not have access to the account via ATM/Laser card or through our ebanking service.

By changing your account to a service account it will not affect your LTV ECB tracker rate.

While you also have the option of setting up a direct debit to the mortgage from an external bank a/c (again this will not affect your LTV ECB rate) you will need to keep the servicing account open in order to receive TRS. This TRS can be accessed by setting up a standing order from the servicing account to your external account.

If you would like to convert your account to a servicing account please advise and additionally if you want to set up a direct debit to an external account and I will issue a new direct debit mandate to you.

Regards,

(A NAME)
National Irish Bank



Email Sent to NIB.

Dear Sir/Madam,

......
..... (explaining breach of the consumer credit act 1995, the banking consumer protecting code, and the consumer protection code)....
...
.
1. I request that you confirm that the requirement in our loan agreement relating to the maintaining of a current account is now no longer operative, without prejudice to the maintenance of our LTV ECB Tracker rate ?

2. I would like you to confirm if & how I can (without having an effect on my LTV ECB tracker) maintain my LTV ECB tracker mortgage, and make payments from another bank, if I decide to move my day-to-day banking to another bank, without incurring ongoing NIB account fees?

I am aware that some NIB customer accounts are being converted to a "Fee-Free servicing" account, can you confirm that in the future, my current account can be converted to a "Fee Free Servicing Account" ?

I asked you to either confirm that point 1 of the above is true, or that you escalate this to your complaints department as a formal complaint.

Kind Regards,
Wolverine
 
how to withdraw money from "free" service a/c?

Have had tracker mortgage with NIB for some years.

They have converted my current a/c into one of these fee-free servicing accounts. They did this without my specific consent but for all I know I may have ignored correspondence relating to it.

Now my problem is that I can't access the excess money in that account, that I don't need to service my mortgage, through online banking.

If I go in and withdraw it by cheque they will charge me for the privilege. Don't particularly want it in cash in any event but doubt this will be an option once they close their branches as announced.

Has anybody solved this issue? It'll be an ongoing one because the mortgage payment is less than the salary going into the account.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register