Personal Current Account Fee FAQs
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What is changing?
Previously we waived account maintenance and transaction fees for customers who kept a minimum daily balance of €2,500 in their account throughout the fee quarter. However, from 28 November 2020, regardless of the minimum daily balance maintained throughout the fee quarter, we started applying these fees which will be charged quarterly from 29 March 2021.
We will continue to provide contactless transactions free of charge to all our personal customers.
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Why are you making these changes?
Since we introduced the maintenance and transaction fee free banking offer the costs associated with deposits and credit current account balances have fundamentally changed and as a result it’s no longer viable to apply this benefit to customers for retaining high balances on current accounts.
We also need to recoup the costs of providing banking services and invest in the Current Account product we offer and deliver the breadth of services provided by AIB.
There are ways to keep fees to a minimum, for example paying by contactless or ‘tap’ which is free, whereas taking cash out from an ATM costs 35 cent and over the counter branch transactions cost 39 cent.
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What am I getting for paying for my fees?
Here’s a reminder of what the maintenance and transaction fees enable us to do for you:
- We continue to develop Ireland’s leading and awarding-winning mobile banking app, adding options like card freeze capability that allows you to manage your money more easily;
- We offer free contactless transactions, including using contactless on a device (for example on a enabled smartphone or smartwatch);
- Access to your account through online banking 365 days a year;
- Debit cards for use online, at home and abroad including access to cash;
- We answer your questions through our dedicated customer support on the phone, in over 200 branches and on social media.
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Will any customers continue to get maintenance and transaction fee free banking from 28 November 2020?
Yes we continue to waive maintenance and transaction fees for:
- AIB private dwelling house (PDH) Mortgage customers who pay their mortgage by direct debit;
- AIB Advantage Accounts for customers aged 66 or over;
- AIB Student Accounts;
- AIB Student Plus Accounts;
- AIB Graduate Accounts;
- AIB Basic Bank Accounts.
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I have a Student account, will these fee changes apply to me?
No. You can continue to bank free of maintenance and transaction fees on your AIB Student account.
Other fees and charges may apply. Details are available in ‘A Guide to Fees and Charges for Personal Accounts’.
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I have a Graduate account, will these fee changes apply to me?
No. You can continue to bank free of maintenance and transaction fees on your AIB Graduate account.
Other fees and charges may apply. Details are available in ‘A Guide to Fees and Charges for Personal Accounts’.
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I have an AIB Basic Bank account, will these fee changes apply to me?
No. You can continue to bank free of maintenance and transaction fees on your AIB Basic Bank account.
Other fees and charges may apply. Details are available in ‘A Guide to Fees and Charges for Personal Accounts’.
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I have an AIB Advantage account, will these fee changes apply to me?
No. You can continue to bank free of maintenance and transaction charges on your AIB Advantage account.
Other fees and charges may apply. Details are available in ‘A Guide to Fees and Charges for Personal Accounts.
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I keep a balance of €2,500 in my current account, can I continue to bank for free?
From 28 November 2020 we will charge you maintenance and transaction fees even if you continue to hold that balance.
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I have always kept €2,500 on my account and have never had to pay fees. How can I figure out what fees I will pay now?
In the past we applied the fees to your account then immediately refunded them. Each customer’s account activity differs, and you can see these fees on the days we applied them, which are: 28 March, 28 June, 28 September and 28 December or where the 28 is not a business day, the next business day.
This will give you a good idea of what fees you may pay in the future.
There are many ways you can reduce fees. We suggest you check out the following webpage that will help you:
- How to Minimise Transaction Fees
- You can also view A Guide to Fees and Charges for Personal Accounts which goes into more detail if you need it.
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I don’t pay fees because I have a mortgage with you and I pay it from my AIB current account. Will I still be able to bank for free?
Yes. You can continue to bank free of maintenance and transaction fees on that current account while your AIB Mortgage is being paid from that account.
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What is a contactless transaction?
A contactless transaction is one where you ‘tap’ your debit card or enabled smartphone or smartwatch to pay for something in store.
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What is the fee for a contactless transaction?
Currently we do not charge for contactless transactions. While contactless transactions carry a fee of 20 cent per transaction, we have not charged this fee since we introduced contactless payments in 2012. We announced on 4th September 2020 that we will continue to provide contactless transactions free of charge until further notice for all our customers.
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Can I reduce the fees you’re charging me?
Yes, you can. There are many ways you can reduce fees. We suggest you check out the following webpage that will help you:
- How to Minimise Transaction Fees
- You can also view A Guide to Fees and Charges for Personal Accounts which goes into more detail if you need it.
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How will you tell me about my fees?
If your fees and charges are more than €10 in any fee quarter, we will give you a detailed breakdown of the amount we are charging at least 10 days before we apply the charge to your account.
If you are registered for online banking then this will be available under ‘Statements & Fees’ when you log in online (eFee Advice), and if not we’ll write to you (Fee Advice).
If your fees are less than €10 then you can call into your branch and ask us for a breakdown.
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Can I get a breakdown of my fees online?
If your fees are more than €10, this is available in your online banking under ‘Statements & Fees’.
If your fees are less then €10, you can call into your branch and ask us for a breakdown.
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What account fees will you charge me for?
We charge a set quarterly account maintenance fee of €4.50 per fee quarter for maintaining your account and there are also fees for the transactions on your account.
Details of account maintenance and account transaction fees are available in our A Guide to Fees and Charges for Personal Accounts.
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When do you charge maintenance and transaction fees?
We charge maintenance and transaction fees to your account each quarter in March, June, September and December on the 28 day or where the 28 is not a business day, the next business day.
The first time we will charge the new fees will be 29 March 2021.
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How do you charge the fees?
We take fees from your account quarterly in March, June, September and December on the 28 day of the month or where the 28 is not a business day, the next business day.
Account fees are calculated each quarter on the last working Friday of February, May, August and November.
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Can I change the date on which you charge me fees?
Unfortunately no, as this is an automated process and we charge all accounts on the same day.
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How can I get free banking when aged 66 or over?
With the AIB Advantage Account you don't have to pay maintenance and transaction fees.
You can visit any of our branches to open a new AIB Advantage Account once you are aged 66 or over.
If you already have a Personal Current Account with us, you can change to an AIB Advantage Account by visiting or writing to any branch to tell us you want to move your Personal Current Account to an AIB Advantage Account.
Once a year we will also write to Personal Current Account holders who are aged 66 or over and eligible to move to an AIB Advantage Account. This will be done within a year of turning 66. We will then automatically move these accounts two months after the date we write to the Personal Current Account holder(s).
If you have a joint account, everyone on the account must be aged 66 or over to qualify for an AIB Advantage Account.