AIB Good Friday Missed D/Debit Scam

2ndcoming

I just noticed that I've been charged €10 for a missed payment of a direct debit last Friday. The reason the direct debit didn't go out is because they were closed (Good Friday). I've never missed a payment before and wouldn't have missed it were it not for them being closed, it strikes me as extremely cheeky for them to charge me €10 for their holiday.

Before anyone asks I'm paid weekly on Friday and after bills and savings by Friday evening only a small amount of walking around money is left in my current account, however only one of these is a direct debit to an outside body, to my hometown credit union. This was the only one that didn't come out as usual and I was charged €10 because of it.

How can they even justify such a high charge under normal circumstances, never mind the fact that it was only missed because they were on holiday?! They really are a law unto themselves.

With the amount of people living week to week, mostly due to paying off banks (both their personal debts and the banks' own debts) I'm sure a huge amount of people were stung like this.

Sadderday

My BFs DD to BOI is due out on fridays... didnt go out.

shouldn't they be deducted on a thursday in this event??

coylemj

I'm surprised to hear that the OP was penalised, clearly there wasn't enough money in the a/c and when the CU DD was presented for payment, it was rejected and the fine applied.

The bank's systems should have left it there on hold until the next business day to see if sufficient money was incoming to cover it.

I'm with BOI, I have my a/c in the same branch for years and years so maybe they're more forgiving for long standing customers but in the days of free banking where your account needed to stay in credit, if a debit came in and there wasn't enough money to cover it, they would pay it and if the next transaction on the a/c was a credit sufficient to cover the debit, they would 'forgive' the temporary visit to the red zone in the sense that I still got free banking that quarter with no fees and no surcharge for stepping into the red.

28064212

Standing Order or Direct Debit? If it's a Direct Debit, it's up to the receiver (in this case, the credit union) to request the money, which the bank fulfils, assuming a mandate is in place.

Who charged you the €10 OP?

coylemj

OP, if your pay goes in to your a/c on Fridays then you haven't built in any contingency by telling the CU to submit the DD every Friday. Wouldn't the same thing happen if Christmas Day, Jan 1st or Paddy's day fell on a Friday?

Nervous Wreck

My gf is with AIB and her standing order didn't go out either. Seems really bizarre that that happened....

2ndcoming

28064212 wrote: »

Standing Order or Direct Debit? If it's a Direct Debit, it's up to the receiver (in this case, the credit union) to request the money, which the bank fulfils, assuming a mandate is in place.

Who charged you the €10 OP?

The bank. Similar to what someone mentioned above I used to have a €100 o/d facility for situations like this, which the bank informed me I had to get rid of as they could no longer offer an overdraft service. At first I wasn't sure why and wasn't that bothered about it but this charge makes their motives more clear. It's opportunistic profiteering.

Ironically my account did dip very slightly into the red when they took the charge, although they don't seem to have a problem with that when it's going into their own pockets.

At this stage I owe them nothing so I'm going to have a look around at other banks, see who can offer me a better current account service.

Cushie Butterfield

There couldn't have been any transactions processed to or from your account dated Fri 29th, Sat 30th, Sun 31st or Mon 1st, so in the normal course of events once the funds were in your account on Tues 2nd the dd should have been deducted then.

It could well be that the originator called for payment a day early on Thurs 28th. If the €10 unpaid dd fee is showing on your bank account on Tues 2nd that is what happened, so your beef is with them, not AIB. AIB will be able to tell you when the dd was presented for payment.

If it's the case that your dd was presented a day early you should contact the CU & get them to refund you the €10 that AIB charged you.

2ndcoming

Either way I don't see how AIB can justify the €10 charge for a missed DD, particularly as if they weren't closed it wouldn't have been missed. It's Ryanair-esque opportunism.

coylemj

2ndcoming wrote: »

Either way I don't see how AIB can justify the €10 charge for a missed DD, particularly as if they weren't closed it wouldn't have been missed. It's Ryanair-esque opportunism.

I'm inclined to agree with the poster two before this (Cushie B.), if the OP's pay didn't go into his a/c on Friday because the bank was closed and doing no overnight processing then the Friday DD shouldn't have been processed and rejected either, I think the CU must have presented it a day early.

Pablo Sanchez

Normally if a DD falls on a weekend or a bank holiday, then the DD is presented the next working day rather than the previous.

Have you talked to AIB yet, as sometimes it can be a few days for the correct transaction date to show on your online banking.

But as much as DD's are paid the next day after a bank holiday/weekend, you would normally receive your wages on the closest working day previous to the bank holiday/weekend, but of course this may vary depending on the organisation you work for.

wmpdd3

AIB took a standing order Wednesday that was due on Friday and charged me €10 for an unpaid SO. I have just gotten it canceled as I had cancelled this SO by letter a few weeks ago.

So it looks like AIB was presenting items 2 days before Good Friday.
This must have increased AIB bottom line for the weekend. It probably happened over Christmas but I was paid for 2 weeks before all the bank holidays so didnt notice.

I got the usual AIB answer 'I should have a few weeks wages in the current account to cover these sort of things'! I wish.

Cushie Butterfield

2ndcoming wrote: »

Either way I don't see how AIB can justify the €10 charge for a missed DD, particularly as if they weren't closed it wouldn't have been missed. It's Ryanair-esque opportunism.

Ulster Bank & BOI charge €12.70 for an unpaid DD, & PTSB charge €10.00, so it doesn't really matter who you bank with, if the funds aren't available you'll be charged.

Your dd wasn't bounced because the bank was closed, so it's probably best for you to get that idea out of your head.

Another possibility is that you wrongly assumed that the dd had been debited from your account on Friday (which it couldn't have been) & you went ahead & withdrew money from an ATM or used a debit card to make a purchase over the bank holiday weekend resulting in not enough money in your account to pay the dd on Tuesday.

nlgbbbblth

OP is misinformed and with three over-dramatic posts should reel him/herself in. The thread title is misleading as well.

Good Friday has never been a processing day. Neither is Easter Monday.

Standing orders due on non-processing days are usually taken on the next working day.
Different rules for direct debits - depends on the originator. Not the bank.

Wages due on Good Friday would not have been credited until Tuesday 2 April. However the funds should have been available via the ATM since Thursday night's overnight update (i.e. from Good Friday onwards).