Fees while travelling

ellesse

Hi
I regularly travel to the UK for work and would like to know what is the most effective way of minimising fees while there. Your website suggests that while there is an ATM withdrawal fee, account transaction fees (presumably this is visa debit in store transactions) are free if the equivalent trxn is free in Ireland.

After my most recent trip, I did not withdraw any money from an ATM and all my transactions were in store. However, it appears that I incurred fees on these transactions.

Would be great if you could clarify in case I have misunderstood and also advise if there is any way of minimising in the future.
Thanks 

[font=Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif]ATM transactions in euro within the EU and certain non-EU countries to which the relevant EU regulations apply are charged at the same rate as domestic ATM transactions. Where account transaction fees are free as part of a package these euro transactions are also free. All other transactions are charged as follows and are not included free as part of any packages or fee waivers:-[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif]ATM - 3.5% of transaction.
Min €3.17/Max €11.43 per transaction[/font]

Bank of Ireland: Alison

Hi ellesse

Glad you came to us here for help with your query.

When you use your Visa Debit Card, different type of charges or fees can apply.

I'll start first by explaining transaction charges for using your Visa Debit Card. At present, it is 20 cents per transaction for an ATM withdrawal or a point of sale transaction on a personal current account. These charges are debited quarterly from our customers account. If you qualify for free transaction banking, these transaction charges are waived. The 'No Transaction Fees' offer can be seen on page 9 here

When customers use their Visa Debit Card abroad and the currency they are withdrawing is Euro or the point of sale transaction is in the Euro currency, no cross border fees apply although may be subject to the transaction fees mentioned above.

If you are withdrawing cash or using your card as a point of sale transaction and the currency is not Euro, for example Sterling, this is when cross border charges will apply. These cross border charges are taken on the same day as your card purchase or withdrawal.

For Non Euro currency transactions at a point of sale, it's 2% of transaction value and a Maximum charge of €11.43 per transaction. 

For non Euro ATM withdrawals, it's 3.5% of transaction value with a Minimum charge of €3.17 and a Maximum of €11.43 per transaction.

The above can be seen on page 11 here

To try and reduce cross border fees, we would recommend trying to limit the amount of ATM withdrawals and if you are making point of sale transactions perhaps you could also ask for cash back as this will only count as one transaction.

Also, just to add, from the 23rd February 2015, there will be some changes to our Personal Current Account Fees and Charges, more details here 

We hope this information helps. Please feel free to contact us again if you have any further queries.

Thanks 
Alison

ellesse

Thanks Alison. Oversight on my part to miss the transactions in EUR comment.

Are point of sale purchases with credit card subject to the same fees?

Bank of Ireland: Elaine

Hi ellesse, 

Thanks for coming back to us. 

Yes, there are similar charges applied to a Credit Card. When using your card outside the Euro currency zone a cross border handling fee of 2.25% applies to the transaction value on all purchases. 

This fee will always be printed separately on your statement so you know the exact amount charged. 

For more information on fees and charges while using your Credit Card abroad please see here. 

Thank you, 
Elaine