{"id":375788,"date":"2026-04-01T03:44:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T03:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/375788\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T03:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T03:44:15","slug":"will-aibs-new-account-fees-really-save-customers-money-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/375788\/","title":{"rendered":"Will AIB\u2019s new account fees really save customers money? \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

AIB<\/a> has made big play of a change it plans on the fees it charges personal customers. In fact, all it is doing is mimicking its rival Bank of Ireland<\/a>. And in doing so, it has provided some odd messaging to its customers.<\/p>\n

Since 2020, AIB has been charging customers a quarterly fee of \u20ac4.50 alongside various smaller charges for different services \u2013 a 20 cent charge for every debit-card point-of-sale transaction or direct debit, for instance, or 35 cent every time to use an ATM to lodge or withdraw money. Insisting on talking to a staff member at the counter would cost you 39 cent a time.<\/p>\n

The headline charge looked competitive against the \u20ac6 monthly charge levied by Bank of Ireland.<\/p>\n

But was it? Maybe not.<\/p>\n

Announcing the change, which comes into force on July 1st, the bank said it would be cheaper for a majority of current account holders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese changes are in keeping with AIB\u2019s commitment to put our customers first, and are being introduced on foot of customer research and feedback, and will result in a reduction of c12 per cent in customer fees on average. The majority of customers who pay fees will pay less than they pay now,\u201d the bank said.<\/p>\n

That implicit admission that the bank has been charging uncompetitive fees for the past six years seems an odd way to phrase a \u201ccustomer win\u201d. But will you really make those savings?<\/p>\n

At present, AIB customers pay fees of \u20ac18 per annum and then choose what other fees they pay by their usage of direct debits, ATMs and other services.<\/p>\n

Under the new regime, they will pay \u20ac72 every year. <\/p>\n

If you assume that people are paying 10 direct debits a month from their account \u2013 which would cover most recurring household utility bills, insurance and the likes \u2013 they could expect to pay \u20ac24 a year under the old system.<\/p>\n

One ATM withdrawal a week \u2013 generous in a world where the banks keep telling us people are less inclined to use cash \u2013 would cost \u20ac18.20 over a year. That\u2019s a total of \u20ac60.20.<\/p>\n

Ahh yes, but what about the savings on the 20 cent charge every time you use your debit card in a store or a pub? <\/p>\n

What about it? You only need to put your card in a reader for a weekly family shop and if you want to fill the car\u2019s tank. Otherwise, everyone simply taps and goes, and those contactless transactions are still free of charge.<\/p>\n

So will the average accountholder really save 12 per cent? Or anything at all? Remains to be seen. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AIB has made big play of a change it plans on the fees it charges personal customers. In…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7715,7863,72,6572,61,60],"class_list":["post-375788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-aib","tag-bank-of-ireland","tag-business","tag-cantillon","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}