AIB to remove current account fee waiver for customers 
Daragh Cassidy
Head Writer

However the bank has committed to keeping contactless payments free of charge for now.

You might remember back in March that AIB announced plans to start introducing a 1 cent fee for contactless payments while also removing the waiver that made it possible for customers to avoid all day-to-day fees if they kept €2,500 in their account at all times. 

As Covid-19 hit and we all went into lockdown, AIB quite rightly paused on introducing the changes. 

However AIB is now planning on moving ahead with changes to its current account fee structure that could see some customers pay far more going forward. 

What’s changing? 

From 28 November 2020, AIB is going to remove the €2,500 fee waiver on its current account. 

This means regardless of the minimum amount a customer keeps in their account, AIB is going to start applying fees for things like ATM withdrawals, chip and pin transactions, and online transactions going forward, which will be charged quarterly.

However AIB won’t charge at all for contactless payments, whether with your card or your mobile phone, for the foreseeable future. So some good news here at least. 

According to AIB, around 10% of its current account customers who had previously been keeping €2,500 in their account at all times and avoiding most fees will be affected by today’s news.

What are AIB’s current account charges?

Quarterly maintenance fee

€4.50

In branch fees

€0.39

ATM withdrawal fee

€0.35

Chip and pin fee

€0.20

Online banking transactions 

€0.20 

Direct debit/standing order fee

€0.20

Contactless payments

€0.00

What will the impact be?

Someone who makes five ATM withdrawals, five chip and pin transactions, and has 15 standing orders, direct debits and/or wage lodgements presented onto their account each month will now pay almost €22 every three months in fees when you include the €4.50 quarterly fee.

And of course fees for things like non-euro debit card purchases, in-branch transactions, and bounced direct debits will still apply.

And customers who previously couldn’t avail of the €2,500 waiver will continue to pay this anyway.

Speaking about the news, Jim O’Keeffe, Managing Director of Retail Banking at AIB, said:

“Our research shows that 77% of customers are using contactless on a weekly basis, this reflects transformed customer behaviour and broadens the base of customers accessing digital channels. With this in mind, we are pleased to announce the extension of free contactless payments for all our customers. Our offering continues to give customers the ability to reduce their fees and charges based on their own personal account activity - this affords our customer both choice and control regarding their fees. In addition we continue to offer maintenance and transaction fee-free banking to 780,000 of our personal customers, including our older customers and students. We have provided our customers with helpful tips on how to keep their fees as low as possible when using our current account and online services.” 

Is there any way of avoiding fees? 

If you’re a student, graduate, or over the age of 66 you’ll still get all your day-to-day banking for free.

And customers who pay their AIB primary home mortgage from their AIB personal current account will also avoid fees. 

Trying to use contactless payments instead of chip and pin, and trying to use the ATM machine as little cash as possible will also help you avoid fees. 

However if you're an AIB customer who is unhappy with today’s news the best thing to do is look at switching providers…

Compare, switch and save today 

There are now 10 current account providers in Ireland so there has never been more choice. 

And depending on how you use your account, there may be far cheaper options available from the likes of KBC, Permanent TSB and Revolut. Even BOI, which recently replaced 26 different fees and charges with a flat €6 monthly fee could work out cheaper for some.

Perceptions about switching banks are largely negative with a lot of people worried that the process will be difficult, that they’ll lose direct debits, miss mortgage payments and will have to wait a long time to get new cards.

Despite what you might think, switching banks is actually a relatively easy process thanks to The Central Bank’s Switching Code, which ensures that switches have to be completed by the bank within a 10-day time frame; and this includes the transfer of all direct debits and standing orders.

Before making the switch, you might want to consult our guide on how to switch current accounts or take a look at the recent piece we wrote on who is offering the best value current accounts in 2021

We also discussed account options available in a recent episode of our bonkers.ie podcast, Current accounts: a deep dive.

If you're ready to switch you can easily compare current accounts across all the providers in Ireland on bonkers.ie right now.

Check out our banking and personal finance comparison page to see how you can lower your everyday banking costs.

Let’s hear from you

If you’re an AIB customer what do you think of this news? Would you consider switching current accounts to avail of better value? Let us know in the comments.

If you have any questions on AIB’s fee structure change or switching current accounts, you can get in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.