‘Bank forgets about blind customers’

Bank of Ireland has forgotten how it once looked after the interests of its blind customers, according to the National Council for the Blind.

People with sight loss and other disabilities will have to pay more to use services at Bank of Ireland, which has announced changes to the fees it charges current account holders.

Automated transactions will be cheaper, but those requiring human assistance will cost more.

Currently the bank charges users a flat fee of 28c each per transaction. The cost of automated transactions, like an ATM withdrawal or paying with a debit card, will fall to 20c — a reduction of 29% on the current price — but paper and staff-assisted transactions will go up to 40c, an increase of 43%.

The dilemma for blind people arising from the increased charges was highlighted on the Ray D’Arcy Show on Today FM.

“Banking and the negotiation of the systems for people who are blind has become more difficult as less contact is now afforded with the bank and bank staff,” the council said.

“In the mid-’90s, NCBI made representations to BoI for a service free of charges for customers who were blind. The response then was positive but the granting of a ‘no fee’ arrangement was left to the discretion of local branch managers.”

NCBI believes that where it was granted it was taken up by customers of BoI. “NCBI believes that BoI has forgotten how it once looked after the interests of its blind customers. Currently braille statements are still being issued to its customers who rely on this service to read their statements. NCBI hopes that the bank will not now consider taking this service away.

“Also of huge importance to blind and vision-impaired customers of BoI is the telephone 365 service. There is a tendency nowadays to send everybody to the internet for communications with people’s accounts, and NCBI hopes that these services, unique to BoI, will not be discontinued.”

The council added: “With a move away from a cash to an electronic banking service, NCBI is fearful that the needs of the blind customer will be left behind in the rush to reduce costs and to maximise income from new fee structures.”