Bank Charges.

kneemos

How did we end up paying these guys when they used to pay us? Current Accounts used to have charges back in the day,now everyone pays.

Not like they're on the breadline.

daheff

as far as I can make out, these fees came in around the time of negative interest rates from the ECB.

Nobody would be happy to pay the bank interest on their savings, so banks stuck the interest rate at 0% and made the money back as account fees.

Fees were removed back in the good old days when there was competition in the market. no competition now, so don't expect fees to go anytime soon.

martinedwards

this was a major shock when my son did a year's placement in Dublin and needed to open an Irish account to be paid into.

I work in a bank in the UK and the only charges on regular accounts are when in overdraft.

there are bells and whistles accounts that have travel insurance and all sorts added on for a fee, but bog standard accounts, and all transactions other than international transfers are free.

Potential-Monke

I have bank charges, but I can negate them by using my card. PTSB, get 10c back for every time you use your card. Charges are €15 a month, or 3 months, can't remember. But I know I've made money and lost money, so probably average out.

I'd love to get a stat to see how much they make off them. They used to make more sense, but with everything digital and automated now, there really shouldn't be any. Like that admin charge to change something on your insurance, free if you do it online. Well, if I never use a physical bank, I shouldn't be charged a monthly fee. Maybe.

Strumms

The consumer banking here is not competitive any more. less so with Ulster Bank departing…..

Bank of Ireland

AIB

EBS

Permanent TSB

They are the only main players left, them being the four major high street retail banking institutions. For a country with almost 5.2 million people resident and its population growing exponentially towards 6 million in the next 15 years…that’s not brilliant.

Charles Babbage

It isn't rocket science. When money earned interest, the bank did not have to charge you for current accounts etc as they got your money from you without paying interest. Currently, in Irleland interest rates are feck all, although they have increased a notch since the ECB started increasing rates.

AIB own EBS, we only have 3 entities.

It is a pity that banks are leaving when things are actually looking quite good. Ulster Bank survived 100 years of partition and yet they are leaving as cros border economic activity is increasing and with unity likely in a decade or so.

dotsman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120145000#Comment_120145000

The fees were always there. They were typically refunded by the bank in the lead-up to the financial crisis as the banks concentrated on making all their money from lending. In fact, it was only when FF relaxed loss-leader regulations in 2005 that it became rampant. After '08, one of the big recommendations was that banks shouldn't be allowed off fee-free banking.

Funnily enough that was soon contradicted by the politicians who then forced banks to offer free "basic banking", but that was just for political show and has largely been ignored by the banks.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120155064#Comment_120155064

It wasn't that long ago that some UK banks charged far more than Irish banks and even charged a fee just for applying for a loan. In fact, some still do charge fees for applying for a mortgage.

martinedwards

yeah, there are some with mortgage product fees.... no fee gets a rate... paying the fee gets a slightly lower rate. very rough rule is if you have a small mortgage its not worth paying the fee. if you have a huge mortgage, it is worth it.

Ger Roe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120171903#Comment_120171903

This is the explanation. We have a dysfunctional banking sector where there is no competition. Any bank that tried to break the mold has pulled out and we are left with the banks who screwed over the country, to the point where the taxpayer bailed them all out, just so they could get back in operation and continue to rip us off again.

The current situation is bad for the country, we will pay dearly for relying on the devils we know .... again.

jahalpin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120171796#Comment_120171796

It costs money to make the cards, post the cards, have a call centre, run the IT and support systems as well as the branch network, why shouldn't this be paid for by the people that use the cards/services. The amount that the banks can charge the retailers for card use has been reduced so they make far less money for processing transactions for personal customers.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120175130#Comment_120175130

Look at the profits Bank of Ireland are making..

A quick google shows they reported an underlying profit before tax of €419m for the first six months of 2022, a decline of 10% from the €465m profit made in the first half of 2021.

if you believe people using cards should pay. So should people just walking in lodging cash with an old school bank book. Those staff have IT requirements, are using electricity, on company insurance, ….

the person actively engaging with a paid staff member can do so without charge.

the person using a card, which saves the bank with his fellow customers, millions a year… pay for the privilege.

thegame983

And USC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120176024#Comment_120176024

To be fair I’m pretty sure all the banks here charge for counter services with a cashier the same as using your card. That said I don’t think it’s per transaction at the desk but rather visit to. That’s in addition to the other charges depending on what services you avail of.

Some of the charges are a bit ridiculous though. Ulster bank if I recall correctly at one point charged me €12 for an unpaid direct debit! I was a few euro shy at the time and ended up short whatever it was +€12 more. Like what the hell do they need to charge a customer €12 because they didn’t have enough cash to pay a DD it cant cost the bank that much money whether it processes or not and surely not going out saves them some? Madness.

that’s another thing I don’t like actually now that I said it we are customers of the bank but they have our money? I guess because we’re buying or using the banks services in holding that money for a small fee. Either way just that particular word annoys me in this context I don’t really know why.

Anyway, overall I think charging for the service is more or less fine but when there’s charges that are clearly way OTT it’s a bit ridiculous. I think all banks should have a certain number of card transactions free per month (like say your first 20 chip and pin or first 50 contactless are free) or reduce the ridiculous fees for things that really don’t need crazy charges.