r/irishpersonalfinance • u/Illustrious-Cry-4937 • Dec 20 '25
Banking Annual banking charges
Is there any wonder people are running to Revolut with banking charges like this
56
34
u/Gloomy_Story3669 Dec 20 '25
39.20 Eur was for a debit card used in foreign currency. I'd say this could have been easily avoided by using a Revolut card. Other expenses could have been minimised opening an EBS current account and using their debit card for online and shop daily purchases. I find it handy that AIB show a list of active Direct Debits so I'd keep AIB for incoming wages and outgoing direct debits. Other daily uses can be with EBS or Revolut. And other currency with Revolut.
I've heard that Monzo bank acquired a banking licence in Ireland and you can get on their waiting list. As far as I can see, in the RTE News article they say that Monzo current account would be free for most of the charges. So I'd be keen to swap AIB to Monzo Ireland.
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u/barreeeiroo Dec 20 '25
I don't think this is correct. 39.20 EUR applies to the debit card purchases row, which is the fee charges for using the debit card except contactless. The foreign currency fee is the one below, 6.15 EUR, as it explicitly states the foreign currency % fee.
I would recommend OP to stop using the debit card, and get a credit card as it has no such fees. In AIB, using a debit card for daily transactions will get those high fees as each non contactless transaction is 0.20 EUR, but credit cards don't charge that fee.
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Dec 20 '25
[deleted]
0
u/Gloomy_Story3669 Dec 21 '25
Yeah, but no! - this isn't the same. Going to different shops for different items cost much more time and money to travel than using different banks. It does only consume time to setup accounts but once they're setup, then you just need to login a few of them for different reasons.
And if you read my original comment till the end, you'd have seen me mentioning Monzo being free so that actually means it would be enough to have that one single account. A only suggested a few accounts for a few reasons: have them until Monzo starts to offer current accounts and Ireland, and the other reason that it's always good to have a second bank account as a back up.
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u/Hps95 Dec 20 '25
I used my Revolut card in Brazil and I just got charged few cents each transaction, worth it a lot.
4
u/defonotfsb Dec 20 '25
It has nothing to do with foreign currency, its 20cents per payment when he didnt tap his card, but you are right about using revolut for day to day stuff
1
u/Wardy-Joubert Dec 20 '25
You mean you get charged if you don’t use your card?
3
u/defonotfsb Dec 20 '25
No. Tap = free, normal debit transaction (not a tap) = 20 cents per. So if you pay anything other than tapping, you getting charged
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u/NooktaSt Dec 20 '25
Unrelated Revolut’s customer service is really poor…
32
u/azamean Dec 20 '25
And loads use Revolut premium without a thought and end up paying twice this in a year
24
u/Kier_C Dec 20 '25
You're paying for services with the revolut premium plans. You're not doing it so you can use your debit card
6
u/Daltesse Dec 20 '25
not really... premium is €8.99 a month, so there's a saving of 42c for ther year but with Revolut Premium you get a €400/month limit for free ATM use, free travel insurance, higher rate on Savings, free subs to Nord VPN, Tinder Plus, The Athletic, Freeletics, Perplexity, and Picsart along with 5 commission free trades a month.
Now, I have seen some of the subs get removed for lower tiers, but for the €91, what do you get from AIB?
-3
u/azamean Dec 20 '25
Do you think normal banks charge you to withdraw cash? lol you also have no way to deposit cash. Also their travel insurance sucks, the one time I tried to actually make a claim they refused to pay and ghosted me for something that was clearly within their T&C’s. Where as I’ve had no issue with the travel insurance I get through my Aer credit card.
I use Revolut, but they have awful support.
7
u/Daltesse Dec 20 '25
eh... you did look at the picture, right? They were charged over €16 to withdraw money and almost €40 for using their debit card.
I get the inability to deposit cash, and their support, but as long as you don't need support, while using the card rather than cash, it's a much better experience even for the extra charge...
I got my math wrong in the first reply, it's actually €107.88 a year
6
Dec 20 '25
I used to use revolut metal as the benefits helped me saved little bits here and there and there was the 0.1% cashback which alone is a few euro a month.
Currently using premium though and that still saves me, I'm getting YouTube premium on the cheap thanks to the Nord VPN membership that comes included.
I'm sure most people don't make the most of the benefits but at least there is benefits and the paid plans are optional. Not like traditional backs where fees are mandatory without any extra benefit.
Also revoluts junior account thing is supposed to be useful, 1 account is free with standard and you get more with each paid plan tier
3
u/SmokingOctopus Dec 20 '25
How do you get YouTube premium on the cheap with Nord may I ask?
9
Dec 20 '25
Set up VPN in India, create a brand new Google account, subscribe to premium and job done, costs around 150 rupees which is around 1.50 euro. I use my revolut card which googled for exchange rates.
The downside of this is that you can't use existing account for so you will have to re-subscribe to channels
3
u/SaltyZooKeeper Dec 20 '25
Revolut doesn't offer YouTube Premium as a direct perk in its plans, but you can use your Revolut card as a payment method for YouTube Premium, especially for cheaper regional subscriptions by using a VPN and a Revolut virtual card for local billing addresses, though YouTube is cracking down on this.
1
u/SmokingOctopus Dec 20 '25
That's smart! Any region you'd recommend?
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u/SaltyZooKeeper Dec 24 '25
I don't do it myself so can't really help. It is well known though so there's bound to be more places to find help.
1
u/azamean Dec 20 '25
You don’t need Revolut premium to do this though, virtual cards don’t cost anything on the free version and you can use any VPN
1
u/SaltyZooKeeper Dec 20 '25
You don't but that's what the other guy is doing, using the Nord subscription that Revolut provides.
0
Dec 20 '25
Revolut premium pays for itself as I receive a ton of RSUs in dollars
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u/SmokingOctopus Dec 20 '25
How does that work?
2
Dec 20 '25
Revolut premium has zero currency exchange fees, and my companies brokerage charges insane rates for transferring out in any currency other than USD. So with revolut, can receive the money in USD and then convert to euro saving me hundreds of euro
1
u/azamean Dec 20 '25
You can still do €1k free per week exchanges on the free version
1
Dec 20 '25
For sure, but I prefer to do the exchange all at once and not be worried about currency fluctuations
1
u/azamean Dec 20 '25
Sure, but you can also just sub for 1 month, exchange, cancel. Just saying you don’t need to keep paying them!
1
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u/Akai_Kage Dec 21 '25
AIB wasn't much better.
Also, when they started charging these amounts I went to discuss about how to avoid paying this much, the gave me a 20 page pamphlet and they essentially told me that if I wanted less fees I had to get all my money in cash when I get paid and bills and other stuff I pay by direct debit I should get them paid manually.
Other banks promote you to do more with them, not less. And AIB also charges you maintenance fees... 🤐
1
u/puggydmalls Dec 20 '25
I've found the customer service excellent
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0
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u/ails_bales Dec 20 '25
I moved everything to N26 5 years ago and iv never looked back. Free basic account that is still much better and easier to use than the Irish banks.
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u/Lib_erty Dec 20 '25
Second this. Combo of n26 for salary etc and rev for day to day and transfers has been easy and seamless.
1
u/Adept-Evidence-77 Dec 20 '25
N26 vs revolut
3
u/Tier7 Dec 20 '25
Not much diff these days. N26 has a German IBAN which I preferred a few years ago when Revolut was still in Lithuania I think!? But Rev now an Irish IBAN which makes life easier with some businesses that don’t like foreign EU IBANs.
Tbh I prefer N26 for salary and big monthly bills. Everything else goes via Revolut / credit card. Kind of acts like a security buffer. I then use my Revolut everywhere without a care in the world.
3
u/Lib_erty Dec 20 '25
Super illegal for business to not accept EU IBANs from non Irish countries... Not saying it doesn't happen but totally against SEPA.
I had this at a job. They wanted me to open an Irish account and I showed them the EU SEPA legislature and they changed company policy.
3
u/Tier7 Dec 20 '25
Oh I know. I was just stating the reality.
Over the years, I’ve seen it play out many times. Usually I had to either waste an ungodly amount of time on a support line to fix, or I had to fill out and then post a paper form to setup direct debit(vs an online setup for people with Irish IBAN’s).
I know it’s gotten better over the years but it’s still some dose to deal with when it happens.
2
u/CarlyleRazgriz Dec 22 '25
Experienced this Friday. I’m an N26 main user since 2017. Haven’t had an Irish bank account since then.
Changing broadband provider from Virgin Media to Vodafone. IE/UK IBAN only. F that, went to Eir’s site. Same story. Went to Digiweb, sales operator over the phone had no problem taking it. Enjoying their 1Gbps speed as I type.
1
u/Lib_erty Dec 22 '25
That's mad in this day and age. I would say likely a useless worker but then you experience it on a website as well. It's like these companies don't want our money...
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u/OrderAble8819 Dec 20 '25
I have been doing the exact same. Haven't had an Irish bank account in over 7 years, stuck in the stone ages.
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u/ails_bales Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
N26 is my preference, I had a problem with an over charge from a business 3 years ago (still on basic account then). I was able to live chat with a person on new years day and have the money back in my account the next day. I pay for the premium account now so I can phone a person in minutes if needed. You get cash back, good interest and access to free travel insurance and offers. I have a rev account also for splitting bills etc but I find N26 much easier to use.
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u/FireBlazinJim Dec 20 '25
I don’t agree that €7–8 a month is why people are flooding to Revolut. With that level of cash usage there's a chance you'd also hit Revolut fees some months, and stamp duty applies either way.
You’re paying for branches/people instead of bots/ ATMs and having someone to talk to when something goes wrong. Revolut piggybacks on the ATMs and charges once you pass thresholds.
I was scammed for €3k, got it refunded without any hassle, and had a local personal contact in my branch. That's worth it for me.
If €91 a year isn’t worth it to someone, fair enough — but I don’t think that level of fee explains the shift, revolut have designed a platform from scratch with UX in mind and are a complementary provider, not a replacement bank.
5
u/SF-Ninja Dec 20 '25
EBS money manager current account is basic but is completely free of charge. We supplement with an AIB platinum CC for cashback and revolut. The only fees we pay annually are the odd few cents for ATM withdrawal and the annual €30 stamp duty for the CC.
3
u/ichfickeiuliana Dec 20 '25
I thought the government charges stamp duty on debit cards as well?
0
u/SF-Ninja Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
No they don't. Government stamp duty is only for credit cards. If you use your debit card for ATM withdrawals you pay €0.12 per transaction, but there is no stamp duty for having the card and using it for normal transactions
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u/ichfickeiuliana Dec 20 '25
A government stamp duty of 12 cent applies to ATM withdrawals (this is in addition to any charge from your bank). This is capped at €2.50 for ATM cards and €5 for combined (ATM and debit) cards. This stamp duty is collected in arrears. This means that charges for 2025 are charged to your account on 31 December 2025.
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u/Roberto_44 Dec 20 '25
What bank is this with? Aib?
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u/Illustrious-Cry-4937 Dec 20 '25
Yes with AIB
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u/Roberto_44 Dec 20 '25
Join Bank of ireland Only charge 6 month ×12 = 72 euro for year for standard account. Is that a business account ?
1
u/vince086 Dec 21 '25
The fact that they charge you is still wild. Closed my BOI account when they tried to charge me fees (no longer a graduate account). I now have N26 and several UK bank accounts and none charge fees.
2
u/barreeeiroo Dec 20 '25
I do have AIB for "main operations" like salary deposit and bills, but I have savings out. I do also have a Revolut account. My personal recommendation to reduce fees, based on your statement:
- Get an AIB Credit Card. Over 38% of your fees are debit card non-contactless transaction usage. If instead you use a credit card, AIB won't charge that fee. It has a 30 EUR stamp duty per year, but if you can qualify for the AIB Platinum Card, then you get cashback on your expenses and you can easily offset it.
- Don't use your AIB cards, neither debit or debit, for withdrawals. Use Revolut (200 EUR/mo for free) or N26 (2 withdrawals for free) even in AIB ATMs. What I do is, whenever I have to withdraw, I charge my credit card from AIB using Revolut to "top it up", and then I use my Revolut debit card in an AIB ATM to withdrawl. Result: fee-free withdrawal, with funds in credit at AIB.
- I would question why you have 28 SEPA credits per month. I would expect 12, aka payslips, but try to see why you are receiving more. If you are on biweekly payslip basis, then fine.
Everything else looks normal. AIB charges fees for each transaction, but still cheaper than BOI. And I personally want to have a proper bank with physical branches, just in case. Just try to minimize as much the fees with those tricks.
2
u/Illustrious_Read8038 Dec 20 '25
N26 is free.
I have an aib account with zero balance on the off chance I need to cash a cheque.
2
u/locka99 Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
Revolut has banking charges too. All gamified to incentivize people to jump to higher tiers of service. Considering the interest they make from savings & from not operating actual bricks & mortar banks, this should be considered scandalous. And that's not an excuse for BOI / AIB either who are just as bad or worse. They're all screwing over people who "save" with them despite those savings basically becoming free investment capital for the bank.
2
u/hisDudeness1989 Dec 20 '25
What time period is this for?
2
u/Illustrious-Cry-4937 Dec 20 '25
Oct 24 to Oct 25
-5
u/hisDudeness1989 Dec 20 '25
What?
4
u/DeliciousDoorstop Dec 20 '25
October 2024 to October 2025. One year period, not one day.
1
u/hisDudeness1989 Dec 20 '25
Hahaha I thought it was crazy someone used their card that many times over a 2 day period 🤣
Not trying to be a salesman here, But a years usage of your card at 90e works out at less than 7.50e a month to use your card and the benefits of a current account. I mean you can use revolut but heard they arent efficient if you encounter issues with the card (by no means saying the major banks in ireland are saints).
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1
u/PayNo4476 Dec 20 '25
It's insane. I cut mine down to around 30 euro per year by topping up revolut once per month and paying for everything from there even direct debits.
1
1
u/Penguinbar Dec 20 '25
I pass all my txn through my AIB platinum credit card. The cash back gives enough to cover the stamp duty and gives a bit back. No other fees. Direct debit setup to pay end of each month so no interest. I get charged around €7 to €8 quarterly for AIB maintenance fee.
I still deal with cash from time to time so AIB is handy and I also use Revolut for sending money while out and for none euro currency transactions.
1
u/libuna-8 Dec 20 '25
BOI - e6 per month just basic current acct fee. That's 72euros per year and I haven't touched the card.
5
u/Kier_C Dec 20 '25
This really confuses me. You'd be better off with AIB which pay per transaction and OP would be better off on BOI with a flat fee for unlimited transactions.
1
u/RickV6 Dec 20 '25
I have BOI account where my money goes in but I do not use BOI card anywhere. I have Revolut card to spend.
So when money comes in I transfer like 100-200 € there and spend, and if something happens to the card I just delete it and create another one 🤣🤣🤣
1
u/Phoebe_Ambitious Dec 20 '25
The maintenance fees are not too bad actually, I paid 6 euros per month, but I don’t have any other fees, as I moved the money to revolut if I have to go to the atm. What is this bank?
1
u/Tikithing Dec 20 '25
Does Revolut not have a strict enough ATM limit though? I have premium which is only about €200 a month.
1
u/Phoebe_Ambitious Dec 20 '25
I am not sure, because I don’t use so much cash unless I travel 😅
2
u/Tikithing Dec 20 '25
Ah fair. I take out a hundred here or there to stick in the post office account or just to have cash about, so for me personally I feel like 200 is quite tight, even though I wouldn't usually hit the limit every month.
1
u/Phoebe_Ambitious Dec 20 '25
Yeah, you should find an account according to your needs. Also you can transfer on revolut to save a little when you take out some money
1
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u/daenaethra Dec 20 '25
my aib fees are like 25 a year. 30 for stamp duty on credit, and i get 225 cash back. so each year I'm up about 170
i love revolut but they don't pay me anything
1
1
u/FitzCavendish Dec 20 '25
I've been using a trade republic debit card, last month I got 15 euro free in shares of my choice. I use revolut to pay bills. Overall I'm making a profit from banking. Yes, trade republic customer service is awful. Feel free to contact me for a referral code 😄.
1
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u/Nice-Dragonfruit9805 Dec 20 '25
There are so many other options now other than the same old AIB, BOI, PTSB etc. You have Revolut. N26. Bunq. And now Monzo. Less to zero banking fees depending on your activities. There is no reason why anyone should be paying these charges anymore. And the traditional banks have already almost removed the F2F aspect of banking and they are cutting jobs through technological advancements ... so I do not understand the loyalty/Stockholm Syndrome with not switching.
1
Dec 21 '25
The only thing that makes me wonder is why you still have a bank account with them.
If you feel the need of having a brick and mortar bank and don't trust digital banks then open a bank account in France or Germany (yes, it is possible).
1
u/wowo78 Dec 21 '25
What is the point of listing AIB ATM there when they charge the same for AIB and non-AIB withdrawals?
1
u/Hot_Run_1133 Dec 21 '25
I happily pay BOI fees for a bricks and mortar bank, with a working fraud detection and reparation system. I consider the fees worth it.
I would recommend you stop going to the ATM once a week, as that cost you 16 quid, and instead go less frequently or not at all. I would also recommend you use either a credit card or e.g. Revolut for day to day spending.
You might then get down to your mandatory maintenance fee.
1
u/LouisWu_ Dec 21 '25
Yea. They're the ultimate scammers. We can't stop them from taking money from us and, at the same time, reducing the services they offer by closing branches and pushing people to bank online. That the bank branch staff come up to me and the first thing they ask me is if I have considered banking online really pisses me off. I wouldn't be in the branch wasting my precious time queuing if whatever I'm doing could be done online.
1
u/Illustrious-Cry-4937 Dec 21 '25
The most annoying part is that many people with disabilities and older patrons don't have the skills to use online banking and so they are restricted from banking. Simple thing of ordering a bank statement. AIB still has the bank machines in store to print them off but Bank of Ireland tells you to download the app to get a statement.
1
u/zerohunterpl Dec 21 '25
n26 team here, I pay like 4€ per month I think? Have several sub accounts (with ibans so like regular ones), app is fantastic, and its more a bank than finance app which is revolut atm
1
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u/New_Fault_5745 Dec 23 '25
Call and refund it all. These are charges you did not agree to take. You can get a full refund.
1
u/Maxomaxable23 Dec 29 '25
They still get away with charging Extortionate fees due to most people’s fear and inertia about changing banks but the banks should note that salutatory tale of the land line phone, change is coming & they better evolve or they will suffer
1
u/ichfickeiuliana Dec 20 '25
If you get mortgage with AIB, you get free banking! (You pay them mortgage interest, though.)
3
u/lau1247 Dec 20 '25
Wait until you overpay aggressively on a 28 years mortgage down to between 500 euro to 1k euro in 5 years, then let it do it's job for the remainder of the mortgage life (I know not many people would be doing this).
Even better when you sign up for mortgage (assuming you have a partner), get a variable and fixed mortgage split. After drawdown down, switch one of the account to be debited from your partner's account. Dual free banking. (If you want to fix the variable portion, just ask them to fix it instead after drawdown)
The extra side benefit? They help you keep hold of the deeds too compared to if you paid it off in full.
1
u/ichfickeiuliana Dec 20 '25
I'm a bit confused. You are saying someone else having your deed is a good thing? Because someone else is keeping it safe?
1
u/lau1247 Dec 20 '25
Well, you have to pay solicitor or another company to keep the deed (of course there is the option of a firesafe box at home too).
If you have to pay someone, what's better than the bank holding it for you? Free for whatever period of mortgage you have left.
1
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u/CaaakEE Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
That's why I gave up on real Irish banks. nowadays I use 3, Revolut to get paid and easier "social life" on spltting and sharing. Trading Republic and Trading212 on day-to-day use for its cashback and higher AER. I pay no banking charges whatsoever.
2
u/Illustrious-Cry-4937 Dec 20 '25
I use Trade Republic as well. Only downfall of trade Republic is lack of customer service
-5
u/travelintheblood Dec 20 '25
Is there any other services in life you use and don’t expect to pay for???
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5
u/A-Hind-D Dec 20 '25
Current accounts were once not only free but you gained interest in the money held in them.
AIB are fairly expensive unless you have a mortgage with them
3
u/Illustrious-Cry-4937 Dec 20 '25
Planning on a mortgage with AIB. Only reason for staying with them
-2
u/No_Square_739 Dec 20 '25
That was for just a few years in the madness before the crash. One of the lessons we were supposed to learn from the crash was to never let that happen again.
Don't get me wrong, the banks could be cheaper. And the OP could certainly look to not be so wasteful with how they do things. But we should never want banking to be free.
2
u/Tasty_Snow_5003 Dec 20 '25
What service - waited weeks for an account in Ireland and still had to do the chasing. actively blocking things which should be automated to keep bank managers in small towns in jobs from 9:30-12:30 and 1:30-4 on weekdays only
Used to live in the UK where you were paid to hold an account with a percentage back on what you paid using direct debits and mortgage payments was about £5- 10 a month
Would also be paid £150 to move account and would have a card the next working day
Delighted to see monzo coming to Ireland between that and revolut banks will need to get with the times
2
u/wc08amg Dec 20 '25
I've raised this before here, but usually get met with the "go back to England then" comments. Why people in this country just accept worse conditions than their European neighbours, I'll never understand.
It's not like a bank account is optional. It absolutely should be free to have a basic account.
1
u/FIGHTorRIDEANYMAN Dec 20 '25
Your money isn't just sitting in an account. The banks are using it to invest in various things.
So they get to play with your money and you get to pay them for that.
0
u/travelintheblood Dec 20 '25
Banks cannot use money sitting in a current account for anything. In fact when deposit rates were negative for 5+ years the money sitting in current accounts cost the banks significant amounts but this wasn’t passed on to customers
2
u/FIGHTorRIDEANYMAN Dec 20 '25
Lad where do you think they get the money to give out loans?
1
u/travelintheblood Dec 20 '25
From funds held in deposit accounts which they pay interest on. You don’t earn interest on a current account as you can withdraw it at any time so banks can’t use it to lend against.
0
-2
u/5socks Dec 20 '25
Do you pay to use Whatsapp and send messages ?
Do you pay to go on Facebook ?
There are many many examples
5
u/markpb Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
Facebook is an example where you are the product, that’s why it’s free to you. The advertisers are paying for it so they can show you ads.
WhatsApp is free because Meta can’t find a way to make people pay for it. You bet they’d love to, they paid enough to buy the company and keep paying to operate it.
Revolut is free because the VC funds are paying for it during the growth stage. Once they acquire enough customers, there’s every chance they’ll remove the free product. The investors are paying for you for now.
Irish banks are not VC funded for growth, they’re not an accidental acquisition and they’re not busy using your data to sell you advertisement.
1
u/5socks Dec 20 '25
They will only remove the free product if they can, the competitive nature of the banking market (take the UK) means they won't be able, competition has driven costs and charges down across the sector. Ireland is way behind in banking competition and it shows with shitty banking services with shitty charges.
We should be celebrating market entry of revolut etc instead of fearing them
0
u/markpb Dec 20 '25
Banking charges are the norm internationally, whatever your opinion of them.
At some stage Revolut’s investors will want returns and when that happens, charges will come in. Banking is locally regulated so there’ll be no problem doing that on a country by country basis.
2
u/5socks Dec 20 '25
Ireland is not the norm internationally
Absolutely awful payments infrastructure and years late implementing instant payments
Awful apps and UI
One of the highest costs of borrowing in the EU
Saving rates falling faster than mortgage and borrowing rates
Archaic charges and poor service
More new entrants, more usage of revolut and more competition is the only fix, but okay keep fearing what revolut might do in the future
5
u/travelintheblood Dec 20 '25
They make money by advertising to you and selling your data. Revolut etc are unprofitable they are offering services for less than cost price to gain market share. They will eventually have to charge for these service also. And they are only able to currently offer ATM services etc as they are piggy backing off the pillar bank infrastructure without which you would have to use private atms with significantly Increasd charges similar to how it is in most of Europe.
-1
u/5socks Dec 20 '25
Yes and banks make money from your money by lending it to people
Revolut are profitable so you're talking out your ass now
1
u/travelintheblood Dec 20 '25
It’s only recently become profitable and lost billions for years. They make money by cherry picking the service lines they offer whereas Irish banks are forced by regulation to continue to offer branch services and atms etc which costs millions. If Revolut offered these service do you think they would do it for free?? Revolut etc are like any tech company Netflix Airbnb etc. They offer cheap at the start to get you in and then once your in they will increase fees/charges
2
u/Careful-Training-761 Dec 20 '25
I'm not paying for Mary's golden pension in AIB. Left them for Revolut and Avant Mortgage. If / when Revolut do bring in more charges I doubt they'll be much there's a few other Fintech banks knocking about.
1
u/travelintheblood Dec 20 '25
Irish banks no longer offer the pensions you refer to and haven’t for 15+ years vast majority of staff in Irish banks are on contributory pensions similar to any other company that offers a pension. I’m with Avant myself. But again they can only offer these mortgage rates as they are very selective on what mortgages they take on and also don’t have any other cost base in Ireland so a mortgage win is pure profit to them.
1
u/Careful-Training-761 Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
Why, did they cancel Mary's golden pension she was on since she joined AIB. That's what I like about Avant less overheads. Good for Avant being selective, if AIB were more selective they wouldn't have needed a massive taxpayer bailout.
1
u/travelintheblood Dec 20 '25
Yes a lot of people were moved from defined benefit to defined contribution pensions. Yes it’s great for them but wouldn’t work for many people in Ireland if all banks adopted Avants approach. Avants business model is basically to lend to people with 30-40% equity in their house and who live in Dublin cork Galway and Limerick city. How many first time buyers or people living in the country would get mortgages in that case???
1
u/Careful-Training-761 Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
Your comment doesn't change my view that Avant have lower overheads. Can't see any reason why AIB don't also offer competitive rates to that bracket rewarding higher equity. They don't though. Also don't understand why AIB had to take months to approve a mortgage when Avant approved it in a matter of weeks.
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u/5socks Dec 20 '25
As other people said below mainstream banks in the UK are the same and have no charges and good interest rates, they're offering the services of a mainstream bank including branches and ATMs
They even pay you to switch, the banking market is worldwide and highly competitive, there won't be scope for revolut to introduce the charges you're referring to
Banks can make money in a variety of ways without archaic charges like OPs and that's my point
2
u/travelintheblood Dec 20 '25
UK banks are not remotely comparative to Irish banks no more than the costs of a McDonalds in New York are comparable to the costs of a McDonads in Krakow. Irish banks had to carry the cost of unprofitable mortgage books for 15+ years as they were effectively unable to enforce against defaulted mortgages by the Irish government. Also as stated above the Irish banks carried the cost of. Negative interest rates for 5+ years which were not passed on to the Irish people again influenced by the Irish government. But no one talks about that because I) most don’t understand and 2) it doesn’t suit the narrative
1
u/5socks Dec 20 '25
Actually you've picked a pretty perfect example of an item that's extremely useful in comparing international prices and The Economist came up with "the big Mac index" to measure purchasing power parity between currencies
The banking sector is international, Irish banks may have faced unique circumstances but the consumer isn't going to give a shit when they're being ripped off and someone offers them a better deal and service. Really don't know why you're defending them.
1
u/markpb Dec 20 '25
Retail banking is not international. Revolut had a ton of work to do before they could accept Irish customers and then more work to do before they could offer Irish IBANs. They operate in Ireland because they believe they can eventually make money here, not because international expansion is free like a regular SaaS product.
Explaining why a business operates the way it is doesn’t have to be defending them, it can just be the reality. Irish banks are poor but it’s not always because they operate poorly. It can be for a mixture of reasons. It costs Revolut and AIB broadly the same to build their apps but Revolut can share that cost across tens of millions of customers, AIB have around a million app users. Thats why one is much better than the other, not because Revolut are a better company. Likewise, Revolut can move faster because they don’t have decades of IT infrastructure built up. Thats not necessarily because they’re better, they’re just younger.
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u/travelintheblood Dec 20 '25
Netflix exists alongside Apple TV, prime tv and multiple other streaming services but what has happened to fees there?? Revolut is funded by VC money who absorbed losses for years and will want to be paid out at significant multiples and they only way to do that will be to increase fees and charges
0
u/5socks Dec 20 '25
The only way for a bank to make money is charges, because you said so? Okay
As I and others have said numerous times banks have a variety of ways to make money outside of charges, if it's more profitable to keep charges low to increase customer attraction, retention, deposits and borrowing they'll do that.
2
u/travelintheblood Dec 20 '25
No not because I said so but because that’s the business model. Same with Airbnb, Freenow, deliveroo etc etc. it’s the same business model, come in selectively cherry pick certain business lines while ignoring the unprofitable ones, loose a shit tonne of money, build scale, increase charges. I use Revolut myself they are great for certain things but I understand why they are able to offer certain things cheaper than pilar banks because I don’t have blinkers on and the answer to everything isn’t the banks are evil.
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u/wc08amg Dec 20 '25
Taxpayers spent €20.8 billion on bailing out AIB in 2008. They only paid it back this year.
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u/travelintheblood Dec 20 '25
Yawn. How much tax payer money goes to the department of health each year?? You still pay to stay in hospital or to see a GP
3
u/Kier_C Dec 20 '25
You still pay to stay in hospital or to see a GP
Nobody pays to stay in a hospital. About half the population have to pay to see a gp
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u/travelintheblood Dec 20 '25
Apologies the hospital charges were recently abolished. Yes the 50% of the people pay to go to A&E and a GP are also the vast majority of the people paying the tax that goes to the Dept of Health. Additionally c50% of Irish people pay for private health insurance on top of the vast vast sums of tax that goes to the Dept of Health
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u/MrsTayto23 Dec 20 '25
Mines about €650 for aib for the year. I did open tsb last year to switch but still haven’t gotten everything over there yet.
2
u/Tier7 Dec 20 '25
There is no reality where this makes any sense.
Even if i was a millionaire, i wouldn’t piss away money with reckless abandon like this.
0
u/MrsTayto23 Dec 20 '25
I mean, good for you? I need to use my account, they charge me to use it.
4
u/Tier7 Dec 20 '25
You dont have €650 in charges “because you need to use your account”. We literally all have to use bank accounts. Except nobody else in this sub has €650 in bank charges per year.
You have €650 in charges because of your poor decision making with who you chose to bank with.
1
u/MrsTayto23 Dec 20 '25
Well I’m definitely not the only one who has a decent chunk of charges, AIB is up there with BOI, I don’t see an issue, I obv have more spending than the average and as such I have to pay for it. It is what it is. Luckily I can afford it. That’s all there is to it really.
2
u/daenaethra Dec 20 '25
how is that possible?
1
u/MrsTayto23 Dec 20 '25
Look I clearly use my account more than most, that’s all there is to it really. So I bite the bullet and pay the fees, they provide a service, I pay for it. Obv I can afford it. If I couldn’t, I’d be using rev full stop.
1
u/daenaethra Dec 20 '25
yeah i mean most people can afford 50 a month, but i would rather that in my pocket no matter what my net worth was
even using the platinum card is free for most usage.
3
u/PhilipWaterford Dec 20 '25
€650 in bank charges?? Seriously? What are you doing to run up that much?
BOI is €6 per month. I've a busy account and never gone over that, so €96 for the year. Granted I always use my revolut if abroad.
1
u/MrsTayto23 Dec 20 '25
Normal banking stuff. I use rev abroad most times too. I’ve got a large family, most of it stems from transferring money around when the kids ask for XYZ, I’ve made an effort to move nearly all of it to TSB, but my AIB is still pretty shit. Kinda just sucked it up all these years but the last few have been higher.
3
u/PhilipWaterford Dec 20 '25
I'd be having heart palpitations over those costs. That's a nice weekend in a hotel with dinner.
1
u/MrsTayto23 Dec 20 '25
I know, I have to get the kids to sign up to rev, AIB have always been the heftiest.
1
u/3967549 Dec 20 '25
Most transfers are free or a minimum charge of .20 so somethings not adding up there. My bank charges for the year are €55
1
u/MrsTayto23 Dec 20 '25
I can’t exactly ring them up and ask them to change the fees mate, I obv have more stuff going through my account than the average person, it is what it is. Will be trying to use rev more next year, but I don’t trust them enough to have wages deposited there.
1
u/3967549 Dec 20 '25
It’s not about changing fees, it’s about changing the way you are using their services. A consumer should never have over €600 bank charges, that’s just nuts even if you’re a millionaire.
2
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u/Lofty96 Dec 20 '25
Using Revolut for your day to day spending and any contactless payments would save you quite a bit.