Ulster Bank to drop fee-free banking (from July 2013)

aindriu80

murphaph wrote: »

I wouldn't trust the Irish government not to "do a Cyprus" on us tbh. If I could move my mortgage payments to my German account I'd even do that. From next year my tenants will be paying into my German accounts as they'll need to provide an IBAN/BIC instead of sort codes.

I don't see what this has to do with Cyprus, Germany or anywhere else. The simple fact is Ulster Bank screwed up their own I.T system and they have us paying now. I think they are incompetent.

There doesn't seem to be any way out of paying the €4/month unless you have access to €3,000 in some shape or form. I find that pretty unfair for the ordinary joe.

Plus there doesn't seem to be any other bank here that you can open an account that doesn't charge per month to use it : S

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

MugMugs

unkel wrote: »

Folks, look at the link murphaph posted. It clearly says:



So transfer from and to any account, get money out of ATM and lodge in the branch, whatever. As long as you lodge a total of €3,000 per month
you don't pay the charge

So get paid €2500, transfer in €500 and then transfer out €500

Off scott free?

unkel

MugMugs wrote: »

Off scott free?

Yep!

MugMugs

unkel wrote: »

Yep!

Despite the fact that it is a pain in the bottom, It'll do for the interim before I see what moves other banks make in this regard.

On the topic of Rabodirect.ie and assuming that you already have a savings account with them unkel, am I correct in assuming that they also do not charge for a savings account?

unkel

MugMugs wrote: »

Despite the fact that it is a pain in the bottom, It'll do for the interim before I see what moves other banks make in this regard.

On the topic of Rabodirect.ie and assuming that you already have a savings account with them unkel, am I correct in assuming that they also do not charge for a savings account?

Rabodirect savings account is 100% free

And not only that, they pay you interest on your full balance (subject to DIRT)

And I got €30 for just opening the account

enfant terrible

If you have a current account with nothing in it, will they take the money from your savings account?

murphaph

enfant terrible wrote: »

If you have a current account with nothing in it, will they take the money from your savings account?

I don't know. They probably reserve the right to but in any case, you won't be able to close the current account without discharging the fees due, so close it now if you have nothing in it and open a BoI account in case you need an account at short notice. BoI pay as you go accounts with zero balance cost nothing.

tomdublin

Trhiggy83 wrote: »

4 euro a month is still a better deal than aib as they charge you for every single transaction you make online or in the bank. I just checked my fee advice slip and they charge for everything, its ridiculous.

Does anyone know if it is possible to close your aib current account but still hold onto your other accounts (eg savings,credit card,etc)

Yes I did that for a while I but I wouldn't recommend it. The problem is once you close your AIB current account, the reference account (or whatever the technical term is) for your other AIB accounts is gone, which makes processing payments to and from these other accounts incredibly messy, especially if they are internet-based accounts. Best to close them all, especially since AIB interest rates for most types of accounts seem to be much lower than what's on offer elsewhere. Credit card is an exception since that's handled by a completely different arm of the bank and has no relationship with other accounts as far as I know.

Unab24

aindriu80 wrote: »

The simple fact is Ulster Bank screwed up their own I.T system and they have us paying now. I think they are incompetent.

As stated on the news and other sources Ulster bank had intended to introduce fees before the I.T. crash last year so has nothing to do with it.

tomdublin

Based on their website, if I understand the rules correctly all you have to do is to log into internet banking, move 1000 Euro from your current account to your savings account and then immediately back into your current account and repeat the same operation three times. You then have put 3000 Euro into the account and save the monthly "maintenance fee." As long as the savings account is with Ulster bank as well the money transferred should clear immediately.

murphaph

tomdublin wrote: »

Based on their website, if I understand the rules correctly all you have to do is to log into internet banking, move 1000 Euro from your current account to your savings account and then immediately back into your current account and repeat the same operation three times. You then have put 3000 Euro into the account and save the monthly "maintenance fee." As long as the savings account is with Ulster bank as well the money transferred should clear immediately.

Yup. I suppose ulster bank are banking on folks not bothering or not having the funds.

tomdublin

murphaph wrote: »

Yup. I suppose ulster bank are banking on folks not bothering or not having the funds.

You only need 1 Euro provided you don't mind repeating the operation 3000 times.

BuffyBot

As stated on the news and other sources Ulster bank had intended to introduce fees before the I.T. crash last year so has nothing to do with it.

Indeed, the only thing this has to do with their IT issues is that they delayed the introduction of fees, not caused them.

Outkast_IRE

I just wrote a letter to them asking them to close my account, i only opened a few years ago for the visa debit card, and transferred in funds when i wanted to buy something online.

Now BOI have visa debit so the whole point of the account was gone, never minding paying €4 a month for something i barely use anymore.

MugMugs

tomdublin wrote: »

You only need 1 Euro provided you don't mind repeating the operation 3000 times.

I would, just out of spite.

Surely this will cause them work in the long run? Me just transferring away all day long?

unkel

MugMugs wrote: »

Surely this will cause them work in the long run? Me just transferring away all day long?

Only if some half wits in India fukc up the IT systems again and an army of data entry clerks will have to enter the data manually

Otherwise it's all done by Johnny Computer...

KeithTS

aindriu80 wrote: »

The simple fact is Ulster Bank screwed up their own I.T system and they have us paying now. I think they are incompetent.
S

I think you'll find the complete opposite is true.
UB had planned on introducing fees a year ago but due to the IT problems they decided to hold off until now so as to avoid comments like yours.

The IT crash UB suffered actually saved you from paying fees til now.

tomdublin

I guess the real agenda here is to move customers from branches to online banking where they can easily avoid the charge. In a way that's fair enough. There's really no need to visit bank branches anymore and those who insist on using them regardless should foot the bill for it.

BuffyBot

I don't really think that's it: it's simply a case of "the market has changed, everyone else is doing it so why can't we?". If they really wanted to encourage that kind of behaviour, they'd offer a fee-free, online/telephone only offering to drive people to that behaviour.

MugMugs

BuffyBot wrote: »

I don't really think that's it: it's simply a case of "the market has changed, everyone else is doing it so why can't we?". If they really wanted to encourage that kind of behaviour, they'd offer a fee-free, online/telephone only offering to drive people to that behaviour.

I do think there's a level of credence in what's being said though.

Branches are very slowly becoming obsolete.

In fact, I haven't been in my local UB branch since 2007 and my accounts used daily. There's just no real need anymore for your average day to day stuff.

munchkin_utd

tomdublin wrote: »

I guess the real agenda here is to move customers from branches to online banking where they can easily avoid the charge. In a way that's fair enough. There's really no need to visit bank branches anymore and those who insist on using them regardless should foot the bill for it.

sorry, have I missed something?

Which ulster bank account allows me to avoid charges by not using a branch?

unkel

MugMugs wrote: »

There's just no real need anymore for your average day to day stuff.

If only people in this country stopped using cheques like most countries in northern Europe did about 40 years ago...

MugMugs

unkel wrote: »

If only people in this country stopped using cheques like most countries in northern Europe did about 40 years ago...

Agreed.

We're a rare breed on that count.

When I worked in Holland cheques were unheard of.

MugMugs

MugMugs wrote: »

I do think there's a level of credence in what's being said though.

Branches are very slowly becoming obsolete.

In fact, I haven't been in my local UB branch since 2007 and my accounts used daily. There's just no real need anymore for your average day to day stuff.

Do you not ever have to do a cash lodgement? I have to do one every week and it's a pain. I use the quick lodgement facility but if someone can suggest some kind of miracle alternative solution I'd be delighted!

MugMugs

Well I am paid by Paypath and that's my only real income.

Any transfers can be done online.

_Kaiser_

To be fair guys this is a non-issue really. Transfer your money back and forth a few times and you're done and have avoided the €4 fee. Unless they close this loop-hole that's it.

If I could move everything (current a/c, loan, credit card) from AIB I would because THEIR fees are worth complaining about (and unavoidable for the majority of people).

JOSman

Just got my notice by email that I'll now be charged €4 a month. Think I'll be changing to PTSB and closing all my accounts with this bank. :mad:

Best of luck to the UB.

Isn't pointless to transfer to PTSB? It'll probably become the norm eventually.

murphaph

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

To be fair guys this is a non-issue really. Transfer your money back and forth a few times and you're done and have avoided the €4 fee. Unless they close this loop-hole that's it.

If I could move everything (current a/c, loan, credit card) from AIB I would because THEIR fees are worth complaining about (and unavoidable for the majority of people).

Their CC is free. Just close your AIB current account. I did this.