bank transfer to German a/c?

Hi,

Paying for something bought on eBay...the seller sent me their German bank account details.....can I simply transfer money from my account into his?

If so is there a fee? The payment is only a token amount so too large a fee would make it pointless.....

Thanks

spongebob

The Euro transfer system from account to account is called IBAN. AIB will allow you do it over the phone (if you have his details, simply ring the 24 Hour number) .

All banks allow it in the Branch if you fill out the IBAN form and pay them c 30c as long as the amount is less than €12000 or so. Takes about 5 days .

M

Elessar

About 2 weeks ago I did exactly the same. Sent nearly €800 to a German bank a/c to pay for a camera on ebay. I was charged €0.50 initially, but lo and behold, yesterday I was charged an extra €10 for it too. I assume this is the German bank charging me, but the seller denies it saying his bank doesnt charge.

So: watch out for the fees.

spongebob

The €10 is illegal. I would ask your bank (once and politely in writing) to refund it immediately if the transfer was an IBAN one and carried out after you fully completed an IBAN form.

If it is not back in your account within 24 hours then escalate to the regulator ....who will kick ass for you. The regulator is http://www.ifsra.ie/ . Ask for compensation for the time you spent on resolving the issue seeing as it is not your fault .

Do tell us the bank and what IFSRA did to them . IBAN should be fully integrated into online banking by now if IFSRA were serious about their remit.

M

spongebob

Note on IBAN

It is based on an EU Directive from 2001 and is explained very well on this site

http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/payments/crossborder/index_en.htm

Charlie Mc Creevey is the commissioner in charge of it so complain to him in Brussels if you feel your bank is non compliant.

"As from 1 July 2003, cross-border bank transfers in euros within the EU will cost the same as domestic transfers" , see http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/03/901&format=HTML&aged=1&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

find out what your bank would charge for a transfer from your account to another in the same bank and thats what you pay everywhere in the EU that is listed in the link above , ISTR thats 30c with AIB so that what an IBAN should cost .

M

Elessar

Thanks for the reply, my bank is NIB.

I completed a transfer form where i had to put in the account number and sort code etc. it didn't specifically ask for an IBAN, but I put in in anyway. The girl at the counter said I would only pay 50c but I could be charged by the German bank. It seems hazy to me, I'll get onto them on Monday.

Hmmm although I can find lots of info on IBAN itself there is no mention of fees.

If IBAN is supposed to mimic domestic transfers on a European scale then €10 is absurd...

antoinolachtnai

Somebody somewhere isn't playing by the rules of the game, and I would suspect that they are close to home. Surely if there was a charge by the receiving bank (which there shouldn't be) it would be deducted from the transferred amount, not from your bank account?

I made an IBAN payment today and was told that if I wanted the payment process to start TODAY then I would be charged €15...however if I wait 2 days the charge is €0.30

Btw where's the rep system gone!!! :eek:

antoinolachtnai

Well, that's sort of right, they can charge more for the express service, but they're supposed to guarantee a receipt date, not a transmission date.

It sounds like you're going to have to pay for the express service.

Terminology-wise, IBAN is the International Bank Account Number. It isn't the name of the bank transfer product. (Which is usually called something like Interpay)

Elessar

I got on to my bank today, explained the situation and they said they would conduct an investigation. It was the German bank who charged me, when they shouldn't have, and it wasnt an expedited transfer. I'll let you know.

Zaph0d

Elessar wrote:

About 2 weeks ago I did exactly the same. Sent nearly €800 to a German bank a/c to pay for a camera on ebay. I was charged €0.50 initially, but lo and behold, yesterday I was charged an extra €10 for it too. I assume this is the German bank charging me, but the seller denies it saying his bank doesnt charge.

AIB charged me €20 for a transfer to a german account recently. They said it was because the destination account was a business and not a personal account so they had to use a SWIFT transfer. Is this a valid reason?

Zaph0d

By the way, for future reference, am I permitted to cancel the transfer at any point?

Zaph0d wrote:

AIB charged me €20 for a transfer to a german account recently. They said it was because the destination account was a business and not a personal account so they had to use a SWIFT transfer. Is this a valid reason?

I haven't seen anything about business accounts in the articles I've researched....the criteria seem to be that the amount is under €12500 and that the two accounts are Euro ones....

I believe the whole point of an IBAN system was to reduce the cost of making such payments.....

Elessar

Zaph0d wrote:

AIB charged me €20 for a transfer to a german account recently. They said it was because the destination account was a business and not a personal account so they had to use a SWIFT transfer. Is this a valid reason?

Hmm, IBAN was meant to lessen/eliminate charges like this. Business or personal, it shouldnt matter, although I know business accounts are certainly different.

Reuben Elegant Hedgehog, you can only cancel the transfer BEFORE the money has left your account, not after as I duly found out.

Victor

Zaph0d wrote:

AIB charged me €20 for a transfer to a german account recently. They said it was because the destination account was a business and not a personal account so they had to use a SWIFT transfer. Is this a valid reason?

Possibly, I'm not certain. The idea behind the 50c fee was for personal transfers. I'm not sure if that is restricted to P-P or whether P-B counts also.

dsab

I transfer pretty often money to Germany and holland, and AIB tries the same thing (scam) every time.

They want to charge me 20 Euro for a Transfer to a business account, which I normally decline. And then tell them to do it via Interpay for 50 cent.

Their reasoning behind this is, that the Interpay System only transfers the name of the sender, and no reference numbers. So, if you transfer the money to a small company, that might be fine. But if you transfer money to a huge company, there might be a problem on their side to properly get it into their books.

First time I threw a big fuss, asked for Managers, wrote written complaints, contacted the Financial Regulator, and they finally gave in. Must be on my file now, as they don`t argue anymore with about it.

7mountpleasant

worked as a Foriegn exchange official in Bank of Ireland for 6 months. If you have a personal account and you provide the Name of reciever, Name of Recievers bank , IBAN ,Swift and a/c no. then by law it has to cost the same as a normal Bank transaction (usually around 20c). no distinction is made between Business and Personal Accounts. It is possible to put the details of the transfer in with it aswell (i.e an invoice number to appear on recipients statement). The only way a EU transfer can cost more than a standard transaction is if it is over 12500 or if you are stupid enough to choose the "express" option. (switzerland isn't in the EU so they still screw you)

I cancelled my transfer ...between the week waiting time and possible dodgy charges imposed by the foreign bank I'm just going to throw the tenner between a card and send it, take my chances.....

spongebob

The Express option will get it there in 2 days but the normal IBAN at the €0.20c or €0.30c rate takes 3- 5 days.

Off to the IFSRA with ye if ye never explicitly agreed to an Express Transfer .

M

Victor

Deleted User wrote:

I cancelled my transfer ...between the week waiting time and possible dodgy charges imposed by the foreign bank I'm just going to throw the tenner between a card and send it, take my chances.....

There are anti-money laundering measures in Germany that prohibit sending money by post ...

!!! :eek:

Victor

Deleted User wrote:

!!! :eek:

I'm not sure if they are going to worry over €10 (but would probably confiscate it anyway). :eek:

spongebob

How would they know it was there in the first place Victor ?

M

eth0_

Zaph0d wrote:

AIB charged me €20 for a transfer to a german account recently. They said it was because the destination account was a business and not a personal account so they had to use a SWIFT transfer. Is this a valid reason?

Yes. SWIFT is completely different to IBAN and costs quite a bit more. Check for an IBAN number next time - i've noticed AIB printing mine on top of my bank statement lately.

spongebob

The widespread problem is that the banks are deliberately substituting SWIFT for IBAN and charging accordingly it would seem to me.

M

Victor

Muck wrote:

How would they know it was there in the first place Victor ?

Metallic strip? RFID chip in high value notes? Customs could just use high intensity light / non-visible colour technology to see right through the paper.

parsi

Muck wrote:

The widespread problem is that the banks are deliberately substituting SWIFT for IBAN and charging accordingly it would seem to me.

M

Are they ? Or is it just branches ? I regularly use it with AIB phone banking - ring them up , give them the details, accept that I won't have a guaranteed arrival time (but it is never more than 5 working days), pay my 75c and that's it. They actually ask me for the IBAN/BIC etc etc..

spongebob

Thats how I use it too Parsi. Why they cannot build it onto their interface....along with non AIB sort codes for Irish banks .....is beyond me. AIB 24 Hour staff have never made a mistake with me , substituting a €20 2 day transfer where I requested a 50c 5 day transfer in fairness to them so it could well be certain branches of certain banks that are skimming the customers for the higher charges.

M

parsi

THe 24Hr staff seem to be consistently good. Though adding the sort codes etc would be helpful and save calling up.

JackieChan

I must add to the AIB back slapathon.
They have the best web interface, it is constantly been upgraded. The 24hr staff are very competent and dont mess you around, in my experience anyway

BCB

Guys,can i transfer money from a bank in the UK to my AIB account here?

Victor

Yes, but you won't get the cheapie rate.

Zaph0d

I got the following reply from an email to IFSRA

ifsra wrote:

Thank you for your recent email regarding cross border transfers. I have been
in touch with the Irish Payment Services Organisation and they have confirmed
that under regulation 2560/2001/EU, a transfer made from an Irish bank account to
a German bank account, quoting the IBAN and BIC numbers for the German account,
should be charged at the same rate as a domestic transfer within Ireland. They
also confirmed that no rule exists excluding transfers to business accounts
from this regulation.

I would suggest that you first contact your branch with regard to this
information and that if you are dissatisfied with their response that you escalate your
complaint to Carmel Keating at AIB, Customer Care, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.

You can access publications on Cross Border Transfers on www.ipso.ie.

So I'm going to get my 20 quid back from AIB: a little xmas present from the bank!

mobpd

We also fell foul of Ulster bank when we recently arranged a transfer in euro from ireland to spain - we filled in the transfer form at the branch with full IBAN / BIC codes of the destination - the branch clerk had very little knowledge of how to complete the form - the transfer went through OK - but yesterday we got an advice that they are charging 19 euro -on the phone to Ulster bank this morning who said because the SWIFT code was not completed on the form then they had to look it up / complete - hence the 19 euro. But the transfer should have happened via IBAN and not SWIFT....I will ring them again with the info we have just learn from the www.ipso.ie website.