Be smart with cash to avoid bank fees: expert
Frank Conway of the personal finance website the Irish Financial Review said consumers need to educate themselves on how bank charges work.
“Bank fees have been on the increase in recent years where balances fall below bank-set monthly and daily limits,” said Mr Conway. “Additionally, there are multiple fees for various services and so forth. Consumers need to become very familiar with how bank fees work and understand the tricks how to avoid them.”
At the end of August, AIB hiked bank charges for personal and business customers — with ATM transactions increasing by as much as 133%.
Bank of Ireland also announced it will charge customers 15c for payments made by contactless debit cards next year.
However, the bank is set to lower — from 28c to 20c — all fees related to automated and electronic transactions. These will cover all direct debit, standing order, and online and ATM transactions and, according to the bank, will mean it is lowering 95% of its transaction fees.
In April, Permanent TSB announced it was removing all quarterly fees and charges for day-to-day transactions for customers who lodge €1,500 a month to a current account.
In order to avoid these and other fees:
* Make sure monthly repayments reach their destination on time — not doing so can be expensive and can add up quickly;
* Stop paying by cheque — Government wants to phase out cheques and hefty charges apply each time they need to be processed for payment;
* Keep sufficient balances in your account — many banks now require customers to keep substantial amounts of money with their bank account in order to avoid paying hefty monthly or quarterly fees. So it might be a good time to consolidate several smaller bank accounts into one main account;
* Forget loyalty and be prepared to switch;
* Avoid unnecessary queries — banks charge customers for answering queries in relation to ‘non-routine service requiring significant time by branch staff’. There are even charges for data protection queries;
* Avoid expensive ATM withdrawal fees when abroad — avail of pre-loaded foreign currency cards;
* Prevent your account going into the red — banks charge a bundle when accounts dip into the red and costs will mount if your account remains there;
* Keep good records — banks charge when providing duplicate copies of documents you already have, so try avoid losing them;
* Don’t lose your plastic;
* Don’t lose your PIN — this can sometimes happen to those with even the best memories, especially following a new card being issued. Ensure you log your PIN in a safe place because if you don’t, the bank will make a bee-line for your cash just to issue you with a new one.
