Bank Fee's-A rip off??

theT

So I have just gotten if the phone with my bank who have told me that as I didn't make online transactions in the last quarter that I was going to incur fee's. When I said that I had received no prior notification of this they advised that it was in the media. Surely this shouldn't constitute an agreement to new T&C's or does it?

On another note if I was thinking of moving banks who provides the best value for money in the Irish market?

dublin daz

I would suggest Ulster Bank. They seem to be the best around at the moment.

They can advertise through the media to check the terms where there is an amendment.

Ulster Bank offer great value, free banking and Visa Debit.

I don't work for them but have an account there.

DePurpereWolf

Same here, always had at least E500 in the bank, come to find out they increased it to a minimum of E3000 for free banking. I don't think I was notified about that.

Now I have to pay E42,- for the period of three months of them having my money.

I don't like to be played with so I think I'm going to check out Ulster bank as well.

Morlar

DePurpereWolf wrote: »

Same here, always had at least E500 in the bank, come to find out they increased it to a minimum of E3000 for free banking. I don't think I was notified about that.

Now I have to pay E42,- for the period of three months of them having my money.

Which bank does this & since when ?

Lambsbread

Bank of Ireland I presume?

Just got my fees of €26. I didn't realise that automatic direct debits didn't count. Even though I had transfered in over €3000 for the period.

Doc_46

Same here folks, €26.00 for the quarter. I had no idea the criteria had changed from €500 to €3000....
I do not believe I received any notification....No more laser transactions so.

neris

We have a sterling account with Bank of Ireland in newry. Went up to the branch yesterday to transfer money to an account in Dublin and then sterling transfers to customers in the UK. No charge on the transfer into Euros but the two sterling payments were going to cost £25 each. No charge for a foreign currency in a different country but charges for the same currency in the same area

kate07

Same thing happened me, got a letter saying €40 euro will be taken out of my account in June, i wouldnt mind so much if i was given the option, but i wasnt aware at all there was a change in their free fees criteria, i wonder if there would be any point ringing the bank, to put the point across? probably not, definitely going to change, is Ulster bank the best option for general day to day banking?

dublin daz

neris wrote: »

We have a sterling account with Bank of Ireland in newry. Went up to the branch yesterday to transfer money to an account in Dublin and then sterling transfers to customers in the UK. No charge on the transfer into Euros but the two sterling payments were going to cost £25 each. No charge for a foreign currency in a different country but charges for the same currency in the same area

Transfers between Northern Bank and National Irish Bank are free. I don't know if its any help but may be worth looking into. Danske Bank their parent bank abolished inter group transfer a while back.

darirl

Got a bill there for €50, €35 alone in B365/Card Transactions. I have the €3000 lodged in per quarter but thought I would have been covered by the direct debits I have coming out of my account but that doesn't seem to be the case. Pretty pissed off about it, I knew there were charges coming in but I didnt know the fine print or even there there was an option to pay a flat fee per quarter.

To be honest only for Im stuck with BOI Id run a mile from them, I hate them with a passion, from their poxy opening hours to their ridiculous charges.

Also can anyone tell me what "9 debit payments from that account using
Bank of Ireland 365 Phone and/or Online" you do to avoid the charges? Would transfers into a savings account satisfy this?

From page 8:
http://www.bankofireland.com/fs/doc/wysiwyg/37-524RU%2019%20%2805-11%29%20%282%29%20FINAL%20f_c%20Brochure.pdf

Bobeagleburger

People pay fees these days?

dublin daz

The best offer seems to be Ulster Bank and National Irish Bank who offer true free banking.

Ulster Bank being 1st simply because of Visa Debit. The service from NIB is excellent too though.

Sarn

This was well publicised in the media when the terms changed, but I do find it rich that they didn't advise people in their monthly statement. There is also no reference to it on the back of statements.

Fortunately I arranged 9 online transactions before the quarter ended, just made multiple small online payments to my credit card bill. It's just a pain having to do it to avoid fees. The next quarter runs from 24/05 to 20/08 which also makes it tricky to remember.

Rebel1977

with AIB you are free for that quarter once you do a debit transaction on your internet banking and use your laser card, just do these things each quarter and you dont get charged bank fees.

http://www.aib.ie/personal/current-accounts/A-way-to-bank-for-free

DePurpereWolf

Sarn wrote: »

This was well publicised in the media when the terms changed, but I do find it rich that they didn't advise people in their monthly statement. There is also no reference to it on the back of statements.

I don't read the newspaper and don't watch the news everyday. They send me a summary of my account every month anyway, and I've seen advertising leaflets in there. I don't think it would have been all that costly to add a notifier about the change in there.
The whole thing just stinks like they want you to mess up.

Fortunately I arranged 9 online transactions before the quarter ended, just made multiple small online payments to my credit card bill. It's just a pain having to do it to avoid fees. The next quarter runs from 24/05 to 20/08 which also makes it tricky to remember.

So it's no problem if it's 9 times the same account?
I could make small payments to my paypal account. Then I wouldn't loose any money over it.

Sacred_git

Us Irish are so dumb that we tolerate this crap! We bail em out with
Our hard earned earnings and now this,
This is just a rip off, the banks know all too well that
A mountain of people won't meet the conditions / forget, wake up
And leave - ulster bank and nib are far better! Nobody is stuck with a bank either!!

Bobeagleburger

I don't feel a bit sorry for people who pay fees.

Vote with your feet, you should have zero loyalty to any bank. Treat them like you would a supermarket - shop around.

Trotter

I'm livid with BOI. I've had that account for 20 years and I've been putting my salary in fortnightly for the best part of 10 years.

I use the ATM mostly and due to being flat broke I dont use the laser as much. Where are the details of whats required in order to avoid BOI charges?

I'm considering going through the hassle of opening a new account with a different bank and changing my salary lodgement. I want free fees, visa debit and good online banking. Any suggestions?

Sacred_git

Eh ulster bank as already mentioned bud!

Bobeagleburger

Trotter wrote: »

I'm livid with BOI. I've had that account for 20 years and I've been putting my salary in fortnightly for the best part of 10 years.

I use the ATM mostly and due to being flat broke I dont use the laser as much. Where are the details of whats required in order to avoid BOI charges?

I'm considering going through the hassle of opening a new account with a different bank and changing my salary lodgement. I want free fees, visa debit and good online banking. Any suggestions?

Read the thread

Trotter

Sorry, reading on my phone and missed a few posts that didn't load first time.

Ulster bank are a solid enough option but there's no chance of them going the way of Halifax is there?

David Matthew

rarnes1 wrote: »

I don't feel a bit sorry for people who pay fees.

Vote with your feet, you should have zero loyalty to any bank. Treat them like you would a supermarket - shop around.

I think I'm going to have to take more of this attitude on board. I've felt loyal to BOI simply because I've been with them all my life (and that only because my mum originally opened an account for me when I was a wee lad! )

Just got a letter in the door about the fees I'll incur this month, and I'm really annoyed as I know for most of the period I was over the €3000. :mad:

Bobeagleburger

David Matthew wrote: »

I think I'm going to have to take more of this attitude on board. I've felt loyal to BOI simply because I've been with them all my life (and that only because my mum originally opened an account for me when I was a wee lad! )

Just got a letter in the door about the fees I'll incur this month, and I'm really annoyed as I know for most of the period I was over the €3000. :mad:

Move banks.

I know Ulster take care of everything if you move to them. As is, they close your old account in BOI or wherever.

David Matthew

dublindaz wrote:

The best offer seems to be Ulster Bank and National Irish Bank who offer true free banking.

Are NIB definitely fee-free? I found this Reduce Your Fees section on their website and it seems sufficiently vague to allow for some surprises. Obviously a charge would apply for being in overdraft - they're transparent enough here. It's the transaction fees I'm afraid of.

David Matthew

rarnes1 wrote: »

Move banks.

I know Ulster take care of everything if you move to them. As is, they close your old account in BOI or wherever.

Thanks rarnes1, I'll definitely look into that.

Sarn

Finally received details on the fee changes this month with my statement. Nice of them to provide it after the first quarter ended. :rolleyes:

John Mason

why in gods name are you all still paying bank fees?

I dumped BOI about 4 years ago and moved to Ulster Bank - no fees

and a major plus is that they are so much nicer then BOI to deal with.

they closed my accounts with BOI, contacted all my DD's and moved them as well, plus they sent a courier to my work with my new laser card.

BOI caused a bit of hassle and refused to let them close one of the accounts as it had too much money in it - BOI are a shower of robbing gits

Sarn

It's a difficult one, I've always had relatively good dealings with BOI. Unfortunately all my experiences with Ulster Bank have been relatively poor, today included. Based on my experience with the various institutions there isn't a great deal of differerence between any of the banks in their level of professionalism (can't say anything about AIB as I've never dealt with them).

I'm willing to jump through the few hoops to get free fees (albeit with some grumbling), because I can see the others following suit soon enough.

booboo88

dublin daz wrote: »

I would suggest Ulster Bank. They seem to be the best around at the moment.

They can advertise through the media to check the terms where there is an amendment.

Ulster Bank offer great value, free banking and Visa Debit.

I don't work for them but have an account there.

their banking online is quite good, only the refused to give me a visa debit card as i didnt have credit history with them, surely as its visa debit i can only spend money thats in my acc. but pffft:rolleyes:

beglee

Sarn wrote: »

This was well publicised in the media when the terms changed, but I do find it rich that they didn't advise people in their monthly statement. There is also no reference to it on the back of statements.

Fortunately I arranged 9 online transactions before the quarter ended, just made multiple small online payments to my credit card bill. It's just a pain having to do it to avoid fees. The next quarter runs from 24/05 to 20/08 which also makes it tricky to remember.

Its quite annoying as apparently i only made 8 online transactions in the last period, so got charged 20 odd euro :mad:

Will be making sure that doesnt happen again in future!

tribesman78

Same problem here. Got my statement yesterday and fees were crazy. on my statement it had 15 B365/current transactions and i had paid over 3000 in within the period so i rang up to complain. Low and behold it was only 6 365 and 9 pass machine transactions and these don't count. I am livid as i pay my BOI credit card every month through 365 and always pay the full amount in one go. So from talking to the rep i asked her if i was to make my payments a bit every week would i be covered and she said yes. What a load of bull. So because i paid in 3 single intervals instead of 9 i get punished.

Also totally goes any green image BOI have. I pay direct debit on all my bills so i don't incur charges with them and now ****en BOI are doing the charging for them.