Bank of Ireland introduced new rules on transaction fees back in November 2012 . At the time the rules meant that customers could only avoid transaction fees if they keep €3000 in their current account at all times during the quarter.
Update : Since August 19th 2013 all BOI current account customers are now charged €5 per quarter. (Some exclusions for pensioners and students) . Transaction fees are also charged on top of this €5 maintenance fee – but these can be avoided if €3000 is kept in the account
Latest details of Bank of Ireland Account Charges here
All the Irish banks now have some form of charging on current accounts – see our Bank Charges Comparison to help you work out which one is best for you.
As we show in our article on Bank Charges in Ireland – a BOI customer using a debit card ten times a week , using the ATM twice a week, writing one cheque a week and with 4 direct debits a month , would be charged €50.68 in transaction fees in a quarter for those 181 transactions . (€202.72 a year) . See full article here . Bank fees could end up being more than the Property Tax for some people.
How to Reduce BOI Fees
a) Customers could use their credit card (if they have one) to do shopping instead of their debit card. The danger with this is that you could end up spending money you haven’t got and go into debt.
bAnother option for BOI customers could reduce fees by getting a prepaid debit card such as the Skrill Prepaid Mastercard. You can use this for purchases without any fees (not free at ATMs). You can top it up from your bank account and then use it for shopping instead of your bank’s debit card. If you need cash – you will probably be better using your BOI Visa Debit Card (but don’t use it too often) .
Bank of Ireland was the only Irish bank to avoid State control after a consortium of investors bought 34.9 per cent of the bank’s shares in July 2011. The group was led by Toronto-based insurer Fairfax Financial Holdings and included New York buyout firm WL Ross and Co, Boston-based Fidelity Investments, the Los Angeles-based Capital Group and Californian property firm Kennedy Wilson.
Earlier this year one of the investors WILBUR ROSS, of WL Ross said he expects to more than triple his money on BOI shares in the next few years.
It looks like the BOI current account holders will be helping to keep Mr Ross happy and rich.
Hi,
I took your advice above and signed up for a moneybookers mastercard recently. It’s been working well until I tried to get cashback on a transaction in Dunnes Stores. I was refused and told I could not get cashback on this card. Can you confirm whether cashback is actually achievable with this card?
Brendan – I will check this out for you.
It might just be a Dunnes problem?
Hi Money Expert,
I have just tried this morning in a Centra and the same issue, cannot get cashback. This is a pain as I was sure I could get cashback on this card.
Brendan – it now appears that cashback in shops is not available on Moneybookers card or most other prepaid cards. We have updated the articles to remove references to cashback.
Sorry for any confusion – but we assumed cashback was available.
If you need cash – the cheapest option would be to use your BOI Visa Debit card (but not too often)
PS – Brendan – you mentioned previously that you are paying the flat rate charge of €11.40 at BOI. Surely – now that you have the Moneybookers card it would be cheaper for you to go on the “Pay as You Go ” option with BOI . You would need to be doing over 90 transactions a quarter for the flat rate option to work out cheaper. As you said – you are nowhere near 90 transactions.
Ok, thanks for the update. It’s good that people know this that you cannot get cashback. I was going to use this so as to be charged as little money as possible by BOI.
I am actually on “Pay as you Go” as its probably the best option at the moment.
I have the Moneybookers Mastercard for a few months now and it’s working well. I also switched to BOI’s flat fee, and since I am now using the Moneybookers card for most transactions, I am nowhere near the 90 transactions threshold.
Just use your normal debit card for cashback.