Free current accounts in Ireland - AIB

I used to have an account with AIB so it will be easier for me to talk about this particular bank. One thing I like about their website is the colour and how everything is well organised. You cannot get lost on the website.
Now, charges. Obviously hidden in the bottom right corner where nobody looks at. So again it is a PDF file difficult to read as it is in a funny format so you have to zoom in. But luckily you dont have to do it as I will tell you in this article how much you actually pay for your account.

So basically you will pay €4.50 per quarter just for having your account open. Whenever you use your account you will pay €0.20  for automated and self service transactions such as ATM Withdrawals, Standing Orders, Direct Debits, Automatic Lodgements (e.g. salary) AIB Phone & Internet Banking Transactions, AIB Debit Card Transactions or if it requires paperwork/member of staff you will pay €0.30 PER TRANSACTION and that includes Cheques, Withdrawals, Lodgements, Incoming Credit Transfers, Staff Assisted Transactions at any AIB branch counter
or in the Post Office. 20 or 30 cent doesn’t seem much but just think how many transactions do you have on your statement weekly, monthly and how many quarterly. It will build up to a significant amount.

Fees are applied quarterly on the last working Friday of February, May, August and November and charged in the following month. They must have worked out that majority of the accounts will be charged €12.70 or less so they decided not to provide you with any breakdown of the fees if your charge is that much or less unless you ask for it.

When you go on holidays they will charge you €0.20 each time you use your debit card - which is fair enough for abroad transactions, however you pay that regardless if you are abroad or home. In my opinion 20 cent charge abroad is fair, at home - NOT! On top of that if your transaction abroad is in other currency than euro 1.75% (Minimum €0.46, Maximum €11.43) - which again is fair.

When you withdraw some cash from the ATM abroad you will pay a commission of 1% of value
(Minimum €1.27, Maximum €6.35) and if it is a foreign currency you will also pay “up to 3% of value depending on the currency” - which means they can charge you ANYTHING they like up to 3%. If you have a Master Card under the Master Card Scheme then you should also know that there are additional charges. Master Card executives need their holidays funded too. And if you have a Banklink Card there are some additional stupid charges too. After all noone has a clue how much they will be charged for the dinner they buy in a hotel restaurant unless paid by cash.

Of course they are so generous they make their banking free from maintenance and transaction fees under certain criteria: at least one purchase transaction using the debit card (fair enough) AND at least one transaction using AIB phone and Internet Banking (also fair enough). Unfortunately these criteria were too easy to meet AIB introduced new criteria. And as from Monday 28th May 2012 the new criteria are:

Maintain a minimum daily credit statement balance of €2,500 in the account for each fee quarter - that means keep over €2,500 in your current account every day all the time you want your account to be free. Go below €2,500 even once and you will be paying all the maintenance and transaction fees - NOT NICE AT ALL. Who keeps that amount of money in a low interest current account? This is a very big minus for AIB as meeting free banking criteria is very unlikely for an average person. What is more it widens the gap between poor who will have to pay fees and rich who will avoid to pay fees.
And just so you know they also say that By qualifying for this offer customers will benefit from free mobile top up transactions. WERE YOU GOING TO CHARGE ME FOR TOPPING UP MY PHONE?! Not only that you are making money from each top up as a sales partner to mobile companies but you also want to charge me for topping up? Not cool at all.

Then they give you some tips on how to minimise your fees... use your debit cards instead of writing cheques (who writes cheques?), make payments online, use their credit card as there are no transaction fees and you can just pay it back at the end of the month in one transaction (and get into more debt), or take my tip: switch your bank account.

You can find more traumatic AIB current account fees and charges (such as overdraft) on their website.

Free current accounts offered by Irish banks - Bank of Ireland

Bank of Ireland website - When I first visit the website it seems full of information. Maybe a little bit too full. There is so much going on on that website.

I like the top menu: Personal, Business or Corporate. So you know where you are. Then the next step is >current accounts< and the site highlights all the current accounts offered. What I am interested in is the standard current account which is shown as the first one.

everything goes well - I click on >find out more< What I find out is that they have branches - good - not that I will use them much but in case I want to see someone I can. They offer 24 hour banking - Internet and telephone - another good thing. They offer a debit card - now the question is what debit card - visa? laser? No clue.

Also you can top up your phone with your BoI current account - am I really bothered? Do people actually do it? You can set up direct debits and standing orders - they should also add that you can pay in and pay out money as well as check your balance and accept wages directly to your account - things that you would expect anyway. VERY basic account - no awesome features and for that "no frills" banking you have to pay a fee.

Before I tell you what you have to pay, there is a "but". You do not have to pay any fees for:

Withdrawals.
Lodgments.
Direct debits and standing orders.
Debit card transactions and cash-back.
Cheques

if... (It is so annoying that you have all those various conditions that use terms that can be misleading and can mean something that you would not expect or understand. )


if you... lodge at least €3000 in a "fee quarter (what the hell is a fee quarter)" and make 9 debit payments using 365 Phone/Online and/or Mobile banking - and direct debits or standing orders do not qualify - and it makes me go AAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! So what qualifies!? Sending my money online to my grandma 9 times? And why 9 times? Why not 10 or 20? Or why not complicate it a bit more? One word: Annoying

OR if you... maintain a balance of €3000 in your account for the throughout the full quarter. I know that people generally do not have that amount of money in their current accounts. If they do they keep it in their savings accounts. I'm going to check if putting that amount of money in a savings account would earn you interests to cover the fees.

And what are the fees? the fees are RIDICULOUS!

28 cents for EACH transaction into or out of your account

or

11.40 for first 90 transactions and then again 28 cents for EACH transaction into or out of your account.

So lets find out more about the fees and charges of the Bank of Ireland... in their Schedule of Fees and Charges for Personal Customers AKA boring shit.

First of all I have to say that when I look at their fees and charges booklet it makes me feel sick. It is boring, difficult to understand and designed to confuse and make you just not read it, get on with it and pay for whatever they ask. So I will read it and convey the most important details of their "VERY standard" current account.

Chapter 1: Introduction - blah blah blah... we keep your money... blah blah blah...

Ok so If you lose, damage or have your card stolen you pay €5.90 each time.

If you want overdraft you pay €25 on establishment of an overdraft, €25 every time you re-negotiate (change the limit) and €25 annually on renewal anniversary. I think it is a bit dear just for the ability to borrow - that is not the cost of borrowing. Every time you use your overdraft you have to pay more: 15.9% annually and they say that includes the €25 facility fee.

I dont understand how a percentage can include a fee. That is what they say:
“The current variable standard overdraft interest rate (including the overdraft facility fee) is 15.9% APR”
but if I use my overdraft to borrow €1 and the fee itself is €25 that means I am paying 2500% APR. I studied financial economics and I don’t get that HOW ON EARTH AN AVERAGE PERSON CAN GET THAT!?

So now you have your overdraft, you don’t really know how much you’re paying for it and what happens if you use your debit card once too much and go over your limit? And here is a surprise: first time (per quarter) you do it - nothing happens. That is a big plus to the bank. Going over the limit can happen to anyone and I can see that they really understand that.

I will not bother you with the cheques as people who use them don’t use Internet.

If you really want to read more visit Bank of Ireland website or see their Schedule of Fees and Charges for Personal Customers

Renewing focus on growth, jobs and trade

It is less than a year since President Obama stood on Dublin's College Green, the site of Ireland's first parliament and in front of the historic Trinity College, and uttered the Irish words: “Is féidir linn. Yes we can.” And the hearts of the enormous ...
Read more:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://irishecho.com/%3Fp%3D70409&ct=ga&cad=CAEQAhgBIAAoATABOAFAxoup-wRIAVAAWABiBWVuLVVT&cd=XwL_4T2GWC4&usg=AFQjCNFQe35EeHjg-79WXzvZETxOhkQUXw

Irish jobs in jeopardy as Game moves to appoint administrators

Retailer Game conceded defeat in its survival battle today after failing to raise new funding, adding to fears that dozens of Irish jobs could be in danger. The group, which was reportedly battling to raise £180m (€216m) this week, said it intended to ...
Read more:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/irish-jobs-in-jeopardy-as-game-moves-to-appoint-administrators-544351.html&ct=ga&cad=CAEQAhgBIAAoATAAOABAxoup-wRIAVAAWABiBWVuLVVT&cd=XwL_4T2GWC4&usg=AFQjCNEHjgoEFg9x8joBN-NFMBeQPFkBpw

No better time to invest in Ireland

It is less than a year since President Obama stood on Dublin’s College Green, the site of Ireland’s first Parliament and in front of the historic Trinity College, and uttered the Irish words “Is féidir linn. Yes we can.” And the hearts of the enormous crowd that had turned out to greet him surged with the hope that is so essential for the difficult road Ireland has traveled and continues to face.

More:
http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/216865-no-better-time-to-invest-in-ireland

100 sales jobs at New Stanmore call centre

RECRUITERS are seeking unemployed people to fill 100 sales jobs at a new call centre to open in Stanmore.
Travel firm International Cruise and Excursions (ICE) Europe said it needs to expand after buying two cruise holiday websites - 1st4cruising.com and voyana.com - from a rival.
The company is based in Kettering, Northamptonshire, has a customer service centre in Cork, Ireland, and is looking to hire outbound travel sales agents for its first London office.
Interested jobseekers can attend recruitment fairs, where immediate interviews will take place, at Suite 8, Buckingham House East, The Broadway, Stanmore, today between 10am and 4pm, tomorrow (Wednesday March 21) between 12noon and 8pm and Thursday from 10am to 4pm.
The company has not disclosed the exact location of its call centre.
Warren Joy, ICE Europes senior vice president, said: The acquisition of these website domains and associated customer databases has further strengthened our position as a world leading provider of innovative cruise and travel programs.
"New recruits for the Stanmore operation will preferably have a background in sales, but they dont necessarily need travel industry experience as they will go through a four week training programme to introduce them to the range of ICE products and our proven customer relationship management systems.
"The creation of our new out-bound contact centre in Stanmore will enable us to introduce more customers from 1st4cruising.com and Voyana.com to the wide range of holiday options we offer though our established loyalty reward schemes including cruises and resort packages."

Source: http://www.harrowobserver.co.uk/west-london-news/local-harrow-news/2012/03/20/new-stanmore-call-centre-seeks-100-employees-116451-30579487/

Belfast boosted with new jobs

More than 100 legal jobs are to be created in Belfast after an international company announced plans to set up in the city.
New York-based Axiom, which offers legal services to businesses around the globe, is coming to Northern Ireland with the support of more than £1.6 million of government money.
Invest NI has stumped up £1.1 million, with the Department of Employment and Learning (DEL) diverting nearly £500,000 to aid skills development.
Enterprise minister Arlene Foster welcomed the announcement.
"This significant investment by an innovative, global company is testament to the reputation of Northern Ireland's workforce," she said.
"The new centre will employ over 100 lawyers and paralegals and pay salaries significantly above the Northern Ireland private sector median, contributing almost £4 million a year to the local economy.
"This is the kind of high quality inward investment that Invest Northern Ireland seeks to attract in order to help develop a knowledge-based economy with long-term sustainability.
"It will further strengthen the cluster of international legal and financial services companies that are now operating in Northern Ireland."
DEL minister Stephen Farry added: "Axiom's decision to set up a centre in Belfast is not only a boost to employment but also to our skills base.
"The company is the leader in the rapidly growing commercial contracts outsourcing market and has developed proprietary tools, methodologies and skills, with which it will be equipping the Belfast team."

Source:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5glN2OQQqc26_pf7VanQykQiuFYwQ?docId=N1220261332255279795A