Finance lecturer hits out at high bank charges here, while customers pay none in the North

AIB in Dundalk

A leading finance lecturer has hit out at three of the country’s main banks for imposing high fees on their customers here, while offering fee-free banking north of the border.

DCU’s Michael Dowling says that no fees were imposed on customers of AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank in the North, while fees for a family with two current accounts could cost €260 a year here.

AIB requires current account holders in the Republic to keep a balance of at least €2,500 to avoid fees of up to 35c per transaction.

Bank of Ireland has a quarterly fee of €5 whether or not the account is in balance. And customers are hit by fees of up to 40c per transaction if they fail to keep at least €3,000 in the account throughout the quarter.

Ulster Bank charges €12 a quarter unless customers in the Republic lodge €3,000 into their account or maintain a cleared balance of at least €3,000 in their account every three months.

Dr Dowling told The Irish Independent that, collectively, consumers here were shelling out €192m a year in extra current account fees compared with consumers in Northern Ireland, when taking account of different-sized populations.

He said that a woman in Dundalk who banks with AIB, and whose taxes helped rescue the bank, was having fees and charges of around €130 a year imposed. Her sister in Newry, who banks with AIB’s First Trust operation there, was able to avoid fees and charges.

The banks claim they are forced to offer fee-free banking in the North because of greater competition in the market.

Despite the high fees, a number of locals have been critical of the queuing times in local bank branches, particularly in AIB and Bank of Ireland in Clanbrassil Street.

You can bank on long queues in Dundalk

 

Fiona McLaughlin has reported that an old man has just collapsed while waiting in a queue at the AIB branch in Dundalk.

Apparently the problem was exasperated by the failure of staff to open another window.

Admittedly, queues in local banks can be tedious with the pillar banks AIB and Bank of Ireland amongst the worst offenders. Indeed, it’s often easier to buy cakes, buns or even furniture in some of the banks rather than get at your hard earned cash.

Still, at least you’re being charged for the pleasure of it… with both banks having recently announced increased charges for customers.

Here’s hoping the old man is all right. For the rest of us the wait for decent customer service goes on…

Source: Fiona McLaughlin (Twitter)