ATM Card Only - not Laser/Visa Debit

Kazbah

Hi All,

I bank with PTSB. I never had a Laser card but they sent me a Visa Debit and said they don't do plain ATM cards any more. I now pay bigger charges when I withdraw money abroad so I don't want this anymore. What institutions offer a current account with a plain ATM card?

Ta,
Kaz

dotsman

To adults? At the moment, I'm not aware of any - I wouldn't say there is much demand for them. I do know that the main banks (AIB/BOI) are bringing out a "basic" bank account in the next few months - you might be able to get an ATM-only card with that.

I'm a little confused as to you are paying "bigger" charges with a Visa Debit. I would have thought you should be paying the same - is it on the FX or the actual use of the ATM?

Do you have a specific example of where you were charge more when you used a Visa Debit?

Kazbah

I took out £250 sterling over the weekend in England and I was charged over 10 euro in fees. I don't think it was never that high before! It wasn't an overdraft withdrawal.

dotsman

That does seem very high. Just had a look at when I was in England back in August and I was charged just €3.84 for withdrawing £150 (I'm on Laser/Maestro with AIB).

Just had a look at the PTSB website and their Visa Debit does attract very high charges alright (3.5% up to a max of €11.43).

If it does bother you that much, you could move to a cheaper bank now, or wait until the spring and see what, if any, banks are offering an ATM-only account (although this account may have other reduced functionality that you do want!).

Kazbah

It definitely bothers me enough to move. I never wanted a Visa Debit I had no choice!

KillerShamrock

Bank of Ireland offer a standard card but it only works in machines in Ireland and not abroad. they got rid of cirrus cards as most people who wanted it also wanted a debit facility on their card too.

As regarding the charges they have been that way for a very long time when withdrawing other currencies afaik, If you look at the BOI and AIB websites they have the exact same charges which leads me to believe that this is a charge brought on by the cirrus operator ( Mastercard I think) instead to the banks themselves.

Meaning you are not paying bigger charges because of the VISA debit its just that you might not of noticed them before.
All these myths and media spin that the banks are introducing visa debit to fleece customers is not true as the banks owned laser and would have made more money from that than VISA debit.

galwayjohn89

Laser cards are far cheaper than visa debits for cash withdrawals abroad. Open a AIB account and you'll get laser. BOI do laser too but think they're moving to Visa Debit soon.

BuffyBot

As is AIB. All of the banks will be moving to Visa or Mastercard Debit. I think NIB is currently the only one that hasn't announced a transition plan yet.

daithijjj

Richie6904 wrote: »

Bank of Ireland offer a standard card but it only works in machines in Ireland and not abroad. they got rid of cirrus cards as most people who wanted it also wanted a debit facility on their card too.

As regarding the charges they have been that way for a very long time when withdrawing other currencies afaik, If you look at the BOI and AIB websites they have the exact same charges which leads me to believe that this is a charge brought on by the cirrus operator ( Mastercard I think) instead to the banks themselves.

Meaning you are not paying bigger charges because of the VISA debit its just that you might not of noticed them before.
All these myths and media spin that the banks are introducing visa debit to fleece customers is not true as the banks owned laser and would have made more money from that than VISA debit.

I remember a similar 'outbreak' years ago in the uk when they actually had to be more transparent with charges on statements. Where you would see a transaction total before, they had to put the transaction (+comm+fee seperate) on it. It was only then that people woke up to the 'rip off', but in actual fact the prices had not increased, they just were not veiled anymore.

Pretty much all the banks are the same with non euro cash withdrawal, with Ulster being better for larger purchases.

KillerShamrock

Vuzuggu wrote: »

Laser cards are far cheaper than visa debits for cash withdrawals abroad. Open a AIB account and you'll get laser. BOI do laser too but think they're moving to Visa Debit soon.

Where did you get this information from? If you look at the charges on all the main banks websites AIB BOI Permanent TSB and Ulster bank you will see the are the same for both VISA Debit and Laser. Ulster bank actually charge maximum of €12 euro as apposed to the others which is €11.43 but if your that worried about 57 cent maybe you Shouldnt take money out abroad at all!

BOI and AIB and NIB do Laser BOI are changing to VISA debit this year AIB next not sure about NIB

galwayjohn89

Must have changed since the summer. Took out dollars with my UB Visa card and got charged far more then I was with my AIB laser. Same situation in Prague and again in UK.

srsly78

Don't be fooled. Even if a card says "no fees" for FX transactions (using atm abroad) you still get a lousy rate. All banks rip you off like this, they pretty much make 5% on each transaction (example: If mid-market rate for eur:gbp was 1.151, bank would give you ~1.11).

chris85

srsly78 wrote: »

Don't be fooled. Even if a card says "no fees" for FX transactions (using atm abroad) you still get a lousy rate. All banks rip you off like this, they pretty much make 5% on each transaction (example: If mid-market rate for eur:gbp was 1.151, bank would give you ~1.11).

No one will give you at mid market. The mid market rate is dependent on how much they buy and then sell for so cant compare like that.

srsly78

You miss the point. An FX broker gives a much better rate than the bank. Using your bank for any kind of FX is like throwing 5% of your money away.