PTSB making it harder to dodge quarterly fees

shanec1928

Account closed during the week asked had the 1500 been meet in the quarter and then said they would wave the fees. Was half expecting to have to argue to get them to do it.

Bob24

shanec1928 wrote: »

Account closed during the week asked had the 1500 been meet in the quarter and then said they would wave the fees. Was half expecting to have to argue to get them to do it.

I’d say at this stage every bank manager has gone through this at least a few times already and realised it’s not worth their while having an argument.

loki7777

Silly question about EBS online account - can you create standing order online or just using printed form?

Ten Pin

Online according to info here (last paragraph)
https://www.ebs.ie/ebs-faq/online-banking

All you need is your BIC and IBAN to set up the standing order online

surfdudette

Finally closed my PTSB current a/c in branch today; was asked for ID and the woman with whom I dealt had to scan it in. The woman did not know the rules for the fee exemption (surprise!). I told her about how I had deposited the minimum €1500 each month of the quarter, she seemed confused; she thought the fees were a "new thing" that had only came along this March. But thankfully she took my word for it. Not sure if she was just confused between the old & new a/cs but it didn't inspire confidence.

The woman also told me that she was not authorised to waive the €18 fee so that would have to be requested to a manager (fair enough), but she asked me to write out an explanation on the closure form as to why the fee should be waived, for the manager to read. Thought it was odd that apparently they have processes whereby at each quarter-end the fee is waived, and yet the manager would not be able to do/understand this without me explaining it for them! Maybe the woman just wanted to cover herself, but I felt like I was having to explain the bank's own Ts&Cs to its staff, which is surely the wrong way round!

I'm surprised that the bank has people on the floor, on the enquiries desk of all places, who know less about the accounts than I (just a customer) know. That might be unfair in general, but I think when they're inputting a big change like this around fees, that the people on the enquiries desk should be well-informed on the old & new a/c's affected, in anticipation of customers coming in about it.

The woman did ask why I was closing as well, she had a form that had to be filled in & signed by me about this, and to say she had offerred alternatives, so I was ok with her asking.

I had to be quite confident/assertive with her though, as she would have had me pay the €18 fee and sign up to the Explore a/c even though it doesn't suit me (she recommended it to me several times, even though it would not work for me).

She mentioned that she didn't know of any bank a/c other than a student a/c where a person is unconditionally exempt from fees - seems she has never heard of the basic bank a/c, or the EBS money manager a/c. I'm surprised at how ill-informed bank staff still can be (have not had reason to be in a branch for an enquiry in years).

Otherwise, the woman was grand about it; she had reams of paperwork to go through though! Took about 20-25mins. She didn't actually close the a/c on the spot, she was to give the paperwork to the manager after I left, for signoff. I see the a/c is no longer on Open24 so I assume it's all done now.

I see now I've accidentally written a mini essay, oops; this whole a/c closure process just really got me annoyed so I'm venting here a bit.

TLDR: a/c finally closed in branch but staff still ill-informed on Ts&Cs just days before quarter-end - not sure I should be surprised or not...

loki7777

We just paid a charge for closing account €18 - when i ask why/where from member of a staff she couldn't tell. I said ok and i'm going to call customer service.
Sligo branch.


Couldn't sort it out over the phone - just made a complain and i was told 5 days for the answer.

alwald

loki7777 wrote:

Couldn't sort it out over the phone - just made a complain and i was told 5 days for the answer.

I made a complaint 2 weeks ago over the phone for a different reason and I was told that I will receive a call within 5 days but I have t received any yet. Same applies to my GDPR request...they are so inneficient at many levels.

loki7777

If i won't get any letter within 5 days I will go and speak to branch manager.

alwald

loki7777 wrote:

If i won't get any letter within 5 days I will go and speak to branch manager.

I went twice to their branch, the current account was closed promptly but not the saving account due to the incompetence of their staff.

I believe that the new fees don't affect the saving account so I will sit and wait for their call.

Bobeagleburger

Closed mine, no fee, took 5 mins.

The guy doing it said the fee for April was applied on the system but to overcome it they have to open an explore account, and then close it immediately. Seems like a poor IT system. He said it's been a pain for staff as a lot of people have closed.

Anyway, adios PTSB.

Bob24

RoboKlopp wrote: »

Closed mine, no fee, took 5 mins.

The guy doing it said the fee for April was applied on the system but to overcome it they have to open an explore account, and then close it immediately. Seems like a poor IT system. He said it's been a pain for staff as a lot of people have closed.

Sounds pretty dodgy to me. The terms and conditions for the Explore account are different and as far as I known opening it requires that the customer signs some paperwork accordingly.

Even if it only remains opened for a few minutes, if they are creating Explore accounts without that paperwork being signed, they are probably taking a legal risk. Closing the account and manually waiving the fee that the system incorrectly created automatically is a much better way to handle the issue.

sonyvision

So after going to the branch i closed my credit card, now all moved across to KBC. I didn't want to risk my salary bouncing so I left the account open to ensure i got paid. Made the switch ro the explorer account where I applied for a cicle K fuel card (4 cent of every liter untill April 2020 if paid by DD from an explorer account)... it was at this point I said I'll leave it open and just use the tap as much as possible.

I did discover that when i top up my revolut card it shows up as a POS (which earns me 10 cent per transaction) then just transfer the money via the app to KBC.... it's pocket change, but I am now up 1 euro each month from the account after the 4 euro fees, receive 4cent of every litre of fuel. 1% cashback on my KBC credit card for grovery or online purchases, better saving rates with KBC 2.1, will drop to 1.8% shorty....

Just need to play the game ðŸ˜

Poochie05

Walked in to my local branch this week with no appointment and changed my account to an Explore account. Took 10 minutes, had the letter with notice of account changing and signed some papers. Account automatically set up for the Cashback on card transactions and certain bills, and I have made €3 already! But you need to register online after the account is set up for the Rewards aspect of the account.

redscan

sonyvision wrote: »

So after going to the branch i closed my credit card, now all moved across to KBC. I didn't want to risk my salary bouncing so I left the account open to ensure i got paid. Made the switch ro the explorer account where I applied for a cicle K fuel card (4 cent of every liter untill April 2020 if paid by DD from an explorer account)... it was at this point I said I'll leave it open and just use the tap as much as possible.

I did discover that when i top up my revolut card it shows up as a POS (which earns me 10 cent per transaction) then just transfer the money via the app to KBC.... it's pocket change, but I am now up 1 euro each month from the account after the 4 euro fees, receive 4cent of every litre of fuel. 1% cashback on my KBC credit card for grovery or online purchases, better saving rates with KBC 2.1, will drop to 1.8% shorty....

Just need to play the game ðŸ˜

I noticed the same with revolut! Anyone has 5 mins at the start of the month top up your revolut 50 times with 10 euro and then transfer back to your explore account. €1 profit!

tringle

Closed my account yesterday, no appointment and was hassle free. Was just asked if i had photo ID and to move to customer service desk. Seemed to be one person dealing with all closures. Asked was it because of fees and was i aware of explorer account. Signed some paperwork and then she went to give me my balance minus €18 fees. I said fees wernt due as criteria had been met in the 3 months. She went into manager, came back and said fees were waived. Said fees had been applied as it wasnt the end of the quarter. But end of quarter is Sunday and by Monday fees would have been applied for next quarter.
Anyway, done with no problems.

loki7777

Will we get our final statement at all?

Dublinandy2

I’ll go in tomorrow to close, I still won’t pay any fee though, no chance.

Bob24

loki7777 wrote: »

Will we get our final statement at all?

Got mine in the mail about 2 weeks after closing the account.

_Godot_

Just got a letter from EBS saying that any card I receive after 17 June 2019 will have contactless. Pretty awesome for anyone thinking of switching.

loki7777

_Godot_ wrote: »

Just got a letter from EBS saying that any card I receive after 17 June 2019 will have contactless. Pretty awesome for anyone thinking of switching.

Will they replace the old one - i got my card week ago:)
Maybe they will update online website as well.

Bob24

loki7777 wrote: »

Will they replace the old one - i got my card week ago:)
Maybe they will update online website as well.

I’d say at least initially they will only replace cards as they are expiring.

Replacing all of them as a Big Bang would create an additional cost to them and also require some logistics planning. In my experience in these situations banks (at least Irish ones) prioritise cost savings and simplicity for them over immediate customer satisfaction.

Delta2113

_Godot_ wrote: »

Just got a letter from EBS saying that any card I receive after 17 June 2019 will have contactless. Pretty awesome for anyone thinking of switching.

- EBS Money Manager Account is a no brainer!

loki7777

Just off the phone with ptsb - now I have to send a letter(complaint) to the bank requesting refund of the fees - as I assume now all closed accounts are gone from the system - couldn't sort it out over the phone.
Cheque for the first complaint arrived today by post.

advertsfox

Already had 2 x Explore accounts for day to day usage - the 3rd one was only for debits / bills so we converted it yesterday in 5 minutes.

Have got the fuel card ordered (already use Circle K card for fuel so will save there) and then for Sky debit next. Still the best choice for me.

CommShepard

Delta2113 wrote: »

- EBS Money Manager Account is a no brainer!

I was stupid enough to switch to EBS and now I'm stuck

1) I wanted to top up my credit card it - the online banking did not allow me to enter my 16 digit credit card number as reference

2) dropped into a branch to make the transfer, they said they couldn't help me, I would not be able to transfer in the branch, online only. ****. I withdraw cash and walked to AIB and lodge the money into my credit card

3) setting up a beneficiary online : you have to call them and it will take a business day to set up.

ESB is ****. Even for free.

loki7777

Adding new payee takes about 4h - i added 6 at once. But yes - they are in the same place as PTSB/BOI were 7-9 years ago when it goes about it - good that you can call and don't have to wait for the code to add one.

JTMan

loki7777 wrote: »

Adding new payee takes about 4h - i added 6 at once.

:eek: Another example of Stone Age banking by EBS. Not worth it even if it is free, there are plenty of better free options.

Delta2113

JTMan wrote: »

:eek: Another example of Stone Age banking by EBS. Not worth it even if it is free, there are plenty of better free options.

EBS Money Manager is the only FREE Irish option Current Account without any conditions but yes it has it's issues.

Some off these issues can be sorted with using this account in association with Revolut,N26 and even Transferwise Borderless Account.

Pay for nothing in Banking unless absolutely necessary.

Bob24

Delta2113 wrote: »

EBS Money Manager is the only FREE Irish option Current Account without any conditions but yes it has it's issues.

Tbh the sole reason it’s free is that the service is lacking compared to pretty much any other option on the market, and virtually no one would use them if there was a fee (even PTSB and BOI look like modern and cutting edge banks compared to EBS, which is not a compliment). Personally I wouldn’t bother with them.

I would either use N26 if I didn’t need cash service and an Irish IBAN, use a free account with another bank if I meet the criteria (between basic banking offers, free fees based on minimum lodgements, student accounts, senior citizen accounts, free current accounts for mortgage holders, etc ... many people qualify one way or another), or otherwise I would pay a few euros per month to get a proper banking service which doesn’t require workarounds and is not 10 years behind in terms of remote banking and electronic payments.

loki7777

Yes, but most of the ppl here weren't happy with any fees so that's why we were switching from PTSB - if i would like to keep 2,5k in my account all the time i would stay with them - but i don't want to and i don't want to pay anything at all for banking services.
That's why i set 6 payee that i will use from time to time and one standing order plus few direct debits and that was it. I'm not a fan of contacless(i know it is coming to ebs shortly) payments and don't need any virtual wallets etc. so ebs account is fine for me - it's not perfect in anyway - takes some time to sort everything out but i could do it.
I also took revoult for easy(one time) money transfers and i am happy now with my bank setup.
And if you want to add some fuel to the fire they didn't transfer any of my DD,SO,Payee when i was switching with them and ask for it - but it happens with many banks.

So yes ebs is simple, 10 years behind BOI/PTSB but it suits some people. I wouldn't meet the explorer account conditions to have it free - i rarely use my card, don't have account with Sky/Airtricity and have fuel card with circlek anyway.