Ulster Bank Introducing Transactions Fees

I called in to the Ulster Bank in Dun Laoghaire recently to enquire about purchasing Sterling currency. I was told that I would be better off going to An Post as they charge no fees. (No wonder Ulster bank had a dip in profits last year if the staff are sending customers to their competitors). My understanding is that An Post's fees are hidden in the exchange rate that you get?
As an Ulster Bank customer with free banking I was surprised to be fobbed off by the staff member. Correction....It seems a regular occurrence to be fobbed off by counter staff in Ulster Bank.
 
A bank charges higher fees than someone else, so they are the bad guys....

A bank tells you to go somewhere else to get a better deal, losing the opportunity to earn income by trying to do the right thing for its customers, and they are still the bad guys....

What am I missing?
 
What am I missing?
Without even asking me a question I was advised to go to An Post. As mentioned in my post ,but this point obviously missed by MrEarl and noproblem, I have Free banking with Ulster Bank so there would have been no fees for me. They weren't doing me any favours, it seems they just couldn't be bothered.

I am not certain that An Post is cheaper than the banks to get Sterling currency. The banks may charge a fee, to fee paying customers, but their exchange rate might be better than An Posts. Anyone any experience of this?
 
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(aside) You're probably better off again using Revolut, if you don't need the physical sterling....
 
A bank tells you to go somewhere else to get a better deal,
I would suggest that the person behind the counter in the Ulster Bank hadn't a clue what they were talking about. In my experience of the Ulster Bank they don't even know or understand their own products let alone their competitors.
 
It's really a question of whether you can get €24 or more interest in a year by putting that money elsewhere.

Up until this, it made sense to keep €3000 in the current acount as that way you could save more in fees (€48 p.a.) than you would have earned in interest in any of the UB instant access accounts.

That will no longer be the case, so there's no incentive to leave UB with all that free money for them to lend to others at exorbitant rates.

I got my fee statement for y/e 31st Oct. I didn't pay the transaction fees because I've been maintaining the €3k balance. Had I not, I would have paid €137 (on top of the flat monthly fee).

€137/€3000 = 4.6%. You're not going to get that kind of after-DIRT return anywhere. Makes complete sense to keep €3k in your current account in the current low interest rate environment.
 
Is there an argument in for using your credit card more regularly for day to day items as charges are on current account payments? Assuming you have the discipline to pay it off etc
 
Is there an argument in for using your credit card more regularly for day to day items as charges are on current account payments?

It depends on the individual and their discipline about making payments, but Yes. I am one such person. After many years of free banking, I now have to pay fees so use my VISA Debit card as few times as possible. I now use my Mastercard for amounts less than EUR10, regardless of the amount of cash in my current account. I also use make better use of my revolut card, i.e. one top-up can fund multiple contactless payments without racking up fees.
 
Is there an argument in for using your credit card more regularly for day to day items as charges are on current account payments? Assuming you have the discipline to pay it off etc

Absolutely. Provided as you say that you have this discipline to pay it off. I have the number of C/A transactions down to 5/6 per month and almost eliminated my use of cash. The result is anything up to 150-200 transactions per month on my CC. Last time I paid interest on the thing was 1992 (and that was a mistake by UB and was refunded). I do maintain a €3,000 balance at present in my C/A to avoid transaction charges, but at this stage I could probably look at eliminating that as well, if there was anywhere worthwhile to stick it.
 
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