is a bank a bank a bank

chewy

a reporter noted after the aib scandals of the previous weeks that few seemed to be changing their account from aib because of the stories....

is that we all perceive and know all banks are the same... and we don't have any controll over whether they screw us or not...


apart from prehaps ancedotal accounts of custonmer service problems arnt' all banks the same

Amz

I'm not sure if this is *fact* but apparently people are more likely to change their partner/spouse than their bank, could have something to do with it.

Flukey

Legalised robbers, I have heard them being called. There are subtle differences, but not a lot really. You just have to keep your eyes open and watch what they are doing.

Amz

Epsilon wrote:

What to suck on my current account then Amz? Do a good job and theres a nice deposit for you.

:cool:

*pats Epsilon on the head*

You'll go far here...

:rolleyes:

jesus_thats_gre

The incidents involving AIB were obviously accidents.. Why would one of the biggest banks in Europe over charge customers the equivelent of one days income over a number years on purpose? It just does not happen that way, if it was on purpose it would have involved far larger sums of money..

mike65

*pats Epsilon on the head*

You'll go far here...

Eh? A clean delete? It is possible...

Mike.

Cork

With many banks, building societys and credit unions - there is a lot of choice out there.

Bank of Scotland are also entering the consumer market.

But people can't be bothered to change banks.

Of course, changing banks should be made a lot easier - but people are reluctant to change banks.

Flukey

People see it as a lot of hassle. They are trying to make it simpler, like changing mobile companies. It'll take some time for the legislation to come through and for the banks to act on it. They of course won't want to facilitate anything that might help them lose customers. Maybe it will induce change in their own procedures in order to retain customers.

Cork

Flukey wrote:

People see it as a lot of hassle.

Even with competition in fixed telephones - most people can't be bothered to chance.

It is however their choice.

chewy

"With many banks, building societys and credit unions - there is a lot of choice out there."

what is the distinct diffenece between any of them?


i love how these boards are moderated... you delete epilson post but keep the ones where tis quoted so we can see what it says ?

Amz

I would imagine epsilon deleted his/her own post...

I chose to leave the quote there just so he/she knows to think before they post in future.

therecklessone

Cork wrote:

Even with competition in fixed telephones - most people can't be bothered to chance.

It is however their choice.

Changing bank is one long headache, I should know, I helped my mother do just that after my father died a couple of years ago.

Most of us would be rather "tied up" by our banks, for want of a better word. A loan or two, and a couple of direct debits/standing orders, and it will take you months to change. I kid you not.

You're looking at something like:

1. Opening new account.
2. Advising payroll that you have a new bank, and providing the details for payment of your wages.
3. Waiting for them to get it right/wrong (and its 50/50 what they'll do)
4. Once thats done, start to transfer over your direct debits to your new account, ensuring that you pay your bills manually during the period to ensure you don't miss a payment and incur late payment fees.
5. During all this time, you'll probably need to keep a few quid in your old bank so that any stray payment requests that go to them will be paid and you don't go overdrawn, and you will need to keep paying any loans you have to them as well.
6. Finish off by setting up payment for your loan (with old bank) from your new account, or better still get a loan from new bank to pay off the old shower and get rid of them altogether.Then close the current/savings account.

There is far too much that can go wrong with all that, and thats a relatively uncomplicated banking set-up.

When my mother closed her and my dad's joint account with AIB and moved to Ulster Bank, I ended up being charged one of their direct debits! Myself and my dad had the same initial, and I was living at the same address. Despite that, the branches were miles apart, with different sort codes,and my account was a current, theirs a cashsave! AIB just decided I was him, and charged me for our ESB bill. :eek:

therecklessone

Cork wrote:

Even with competition in fixed telephones - most people can't be bothered to chance.

It is however their choice.

You seem to focus on single elements of the customer-service provider relationship Cork. Deciding to change doesn't just come down to "I can save money" or "they give a better service", there are other factors to be considered.

Look at airlines for one moment:

Ryanair Dublin to Stansted - €50 (inc. tax), booked well in advance

Aer Lingus Dublin to Heathrow - €80 (inc. tax), booked well in advance.

Easy choice, yes? Not if you add in the cost of getting into London city (€30 for Ryanair, €15 for EI). Then consider conveniance, levels of service etc, and that €30 saving (€15 once you've paid for your train) may not seem as attractive.

I'm buying a new printer from either the UK or Germany, but went pricing them yesterday in Dublin. It'll cost me €150 to buy and ship to Ireland, so I decided I would pay up to €180 here, both for conveniance and customer service. Best price I could find for the model was €250! So I'll buy online, and if something goes wrong the cost of getting it shipped back to the shop won't see me out of pocket.

In short, no matter how much Mata Harney tells us to shop around, there will always be other factors to consider. And in the case of banks, there's the hassle factor.

Cork

therecklessone wrote:

In short, no matter how much Mata Harney tells us to shop around, there will always be other factors to consider. And in the case of banks, there's the hassle factor.

I called into a building society last week that offered me a free ATM service & free bank drafts.

The card only works in AIB machines. But I tought it was not a bad offer. They had no current accounts.

I think the government are to make it easier for people to change banks. Making the transferability of accounts more automatic between institutions.

Lennoxschips

I changed from a big bank to my local credit union a few years ago and it's the smartest thing I ever did. The service was much better and friendlier,

sovtek

I'm not the typical American that thinks "everything we do is better" but I've got to say that my banking experience in Ireland left me missing something from home.
In America banks actually try to get you to open new accounts (offer gifts and whatnot) rather than discourage it (roll their eyes when you ask to open new account, tell you to come back later, ask for redundant documents to prove who you are).
If you open up a bank account in America, it's usually just a matter of showing your id, Social Security # and giving them your address.
Then you aren't charged ridiculous fees for ever little "service" (ok well you do get charged fees...but not as much and not so long a list). If you want to add someone to your account, it merely takes an id and a signature.
I've never really understood why Irish and UK banks require so much just to open an account, for you to put money IN. It's actually worse than taking out a loan in America.
Then there's the interest rates...we call that a "loan shark".
The knee jerk reaction would be that there is more competition in America or economies of scale....I'm not sure it's that simple though.

Lennoxschips

The interest rates in the US on loans are lower at the moment because the economy is lagging and the Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates to stimulate growth. It's nothing to do with the banks here in Europe trying to rip people off. Interest rates fluxuate on both sides of the Atlantic.

bonkey

sovtek wrote:

I've never really understood why Irish and UK banks require so much just to open an account, for you to put money IN.

Well, until they changed the system because of the alleged amount of mondery laundering etc which was ongoing, opening an account in Ireland was a trivial affair.

Isn't it funny....we used to be criticised for having banking procedures which were too lax and which facilitated criminal activity. The banks tried to sort that, and now people complain about how hard it is and why there's no reason for it all......

jc

eth0_

chewy wrote:

a reporter noted after the aib scandals of the previous weeks that few seemed to be changing their account from aib because of the stories....

People won't change banks because it's SUCH a hassle. In the UK when you change banks, you sign ONE form, and your old bank transfers your money, your direct debits etc etc over to the new bank. Of course, in backward Ireland we don't have anything as advanced as this.

I'm with AIB and i've been with BOI and Ulster Bank before and they were both absolutely ATROCIOUS and i'll never give them my business again. AIB on the other hand, i've found to be very good on the whole. So I can overlook this scandal. I don't think i've been affected by the over charging either.

The Corinthian

It truly pains me to say this but I would have to agree with Cork here. It’s actually rather breathtaking to see people sit and allow themselves to be fiscally sodomized and then complain that they’re being ripped off.

I remember about two years ago, when the camera phones first came out, one of the mobile operators came out with an offer to buy one and pay for it over 12 months. The interest they were charging was something like double what I’d pay on my Visa and actually weighed in half a point under the level that would require them to get a licence as registered moneylenders. Yet people went for it, even though they had more credit than sense at the time.

Frankly the same goes here, far too many people complaining about either Bank of Ireland or AIB, yet apparently incapable to consider NIB, Ulster, EBS, Bank of Scotland or any of the other possible alternatives. Of course, they may argue that it’s not worth the trouble to change around, in which case I would recommend that they stop wining if it’s too much trouble to not be ripped off.

sovtek

bonkey wrote:

Well, until they changed the system because of the alleged amount of mondery laundering etc which was ongoing, opening an account in Ireland was a trivial affair.

I can't speak of the laws before I came to Ireland in 2000, but the process I experienced just seemed unusually restrictive. I mean people launder money in America as well, only the banks aren't expected to police that...that's what the FBI are for.
I tried to put my wife on my account and they just flat out refused to do it at BOI.

Isn't it funny....we used to be criticised for having banking procedures which were too lax and which facilitated criminal activity. The banks tried to sort that, and now people complain about how hard it is and why there's no reason for it all......

Again I can't comment on the laws before 2000 because I'm not familiar with them...but shouldn't it be up to the police to investigate money laundering instead of making it harder for the average person to open an account?
I mean we aren't talking about Swiss accounts here now are we?!?!
As well I'm sure someone who knows what they are doing could still launder money.

sovtek

Lennoxschips wrote:

The interest rates in the US on loans are lower at the moment because the economy is lagging and the Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates to stimulate growth. It's nothing to do with the banks here in Europe trying to rip people off. Interest rates fluxuate on both sides of the Atlantic.

I'm not sure that explains the difference. Yes the interest rates in America are at an all time low because of recession, but in the nineties..when rates were very high to stem out of control growth I was paying %10 on my MasterCard CC in America. The MasterCard I had, until very recently, through BOI was 18%. That's considered very high in America at any time.

bonkey

sovtek wrote:

I can't speak of the laws before I came to Ireland in 2000, but the process I experienced just seemed unusually restrictive. I mean people launder money in America as well, only the banks aren't expected to police that...that's what the FBI are for.
...
Again I can't comment on the laws before 2000 because I'm not familiar with them...but shouldn't it be up to the police to investigate money laundering instead of making it harder for the average person to open an account?

Well, the change was pre-2000, so like I said....

As for whether or not it should be the police's job....thats a question for the lawmakers. They decide what are the legal requirements for various things, and they decided that the banks would have to meet minimum standards for opening accounts.

At the end of the day, I don't see the biggie with it being tough. Its not like its something you need to do weekly, and - at most - it should take 2 visits to the bank.

I mean we aren't talking about Swiss accounts here now are we?!?!

Its easier to open an account here in Switzerland than it is in Ireland. Go figure.

jc