BOI no longer providing foreign currency drafts in branch less than €500

rainbowtrout

I was in my local branch earlier today, and the teller I was dealing with gave me a leaflet to notify me of changes to the services offered in branch. First of all I thought she was telling me of the changes to the charges on current accounts.


One of the changes is that you can no longer make a credit card lodgment at the counter. That one doesn't effect me but I'd imagine some people use the facility.

An international payment will only be processed at the counter if it is for €3000 or more.

Payments to non BOI accounts can no longer be made in branch.

The one I couldn't get my head around was that you can no longer buy a euro/foreign currency draft at the counter for less than €500. Now the woman I was dealing with is lovely, I deal with her regularly so I asked her why this was happening. She said she didn't know, basically that these were the orders that came from above and they just follow them. I pointed out that many people buy drafts regularly, particularly in sterling for gifts - birthdays, weddings etc, and she said, yes it was daft. So I asked what was the alternative, and she said 'I suppose you'll have to send a cheque'. So I said ' I thought cheques were being phased out' and she agreed, but didn't have a better alternative aside from sending cash through the post or asking the person for their bank account details.

The whole premise of the leaflet I was given is 'Please use online banking, we want to have as little as possible to do with you'

tony81

Bank drafts are a Nightmare for banks if they go missing, and the clearing process is ridiculously messy and can leave people out of pocket (they're used in a lot of scams)
Despite a small admin fee to write, a £20 draft can potentially cost the bank a lot more. Banks hate accepting them too and often charge high fees to cash them.
The alternative is to use paypal, a postal order, an online transfer or an amazon gift voucher. These methods are more suitable for your purpose imo.

rainbowtrout

tony81 wrote: »

Bank drafts are a Nightmare for banks if they go missing, and the clearing process is ridiculously messy and can leave people out of pocket (they're used in a lot of scams)
Despite a small admin fee to write, a £20 draft can potentially cost the bank a lot more. Banks hate accepting them too and often charge high fees to cash them.
The alternative is to use paypal, a postal order, an online transfer or an amazon gift voucher. These methods are more suitable for your purpose imo.

Actually they are not in some cases. If I wanted to use one of the above in all cases then I wouldn't have started the thread. Also judging by the conversation I had with the bank employee yesterday I'm not the only one who uses them.

I need to pay an embassy for a holiday visa. They do not accept online/bank transfer. Amazon gift vouchers don't cover every occasion. The currency is not euro so I will need to get a draft. I can probably go to the post office, although not every post office offers this service, but my bank where I would have always gone for this service is no longer offering it.

goulders

Are the banks getting some kind of commission for every customer they can lose.

No cash nib and now no branches
new charges in all banks,
no bank drafts under €500
aib closing branches
b of i insisting turning overdrafts into a loans

etc etc etc

Maybe they will start selling chips and burgers

tony81

rainbowtrout wrote: »

I need to pay an embassy for a holiday visa. They do not accept online/bank transfer. Amazon gift vouchers don't cover every occasion. The currency is not euro so I will need to get a draft. I can probably go to the post office, although not every post office offers this service, but my bank where I would have always gone for this service is no longer offering it.

In that case, you probably do need a draft!

But you are probably the exception to the rule, and my original point still stands. There's a good chance your draft will disappear in a foreign embassy's bank account, they'll say they never got it, you'll want the bank to trace it, they'll charge €50 an hour only to tell you 5 weeks later that the only thing their system shows is it's been cashed and they can't tell you the exact account, only the name of a bank... fun times!

rainbowtrout

tony81 wrote: »

In that case, you probably do need a draft!

But you are probably the exception to the rule, and my original point still stands. There's a good chance your draft will disappear in a foreign embassy's bank account, they'll say they never got it, you'll want the bank to trace it, they'll charge €50 an hour only to tell you 5 weeks later that the only thing their system shows is it's been cashed and they can't tell you the exact account, only the name of a bank... fun times!

Not necessarily. I've bought plenty of drafts over the years and never ever had a problem.

wmpdd3

I've gotten a draft for my birthday for years, bought in England but in Euros. A small amount but I'm delighted to get it. I've never had an issue with cashing it.

avalon68

Its a total joke - I needed a usd bank draft today which they wouldnt provide and needed to make an international transfer to the US which they also wouldnt do. They sent me off to online banking, but in order to add a payee I had to register my mobile number....and then they post.....yes POST out a code in 3 - 4 working days. I need to send the transfer today. So much for rapid online banking! I rang 365 only to be told there was nothing they could do. I then went back down to withdraw money from the atm to try and at least do the bank draft in the post office and the bloody atm was broken! grrrrr. I would have lived with fees, but I will not pay fees for nothing in return. I shall be switching banks asap. Apparently almost 15 years of custom means nothing these days.

okiss

Some one high up in head office gets a "bright idea" that will reduce the work being done at branch level so they can get rid of staff.
Everyone I know has complaints about the bank branches at the moment.
Why have 2 staff working on a Friday at lunchtime when the q is out the door.
Why tell me about how I can use the cash lodgement service machine or use internet banking - yes I would chose to come in here to wait in a q for 20 mins plus if I could use internet banking ect.
You want to let experience staff retire and get cheaper staff in the branches.
After queing for ages you end up speaking to someone who has no idea about what you are looking for or the transaction you want to do.
Meanwhile you decide to let staff go, close branches and expect me to pay more for a service that you are not providing me.