Are you an AIB customer? If so, there's some good news for you this morning, as the bank has clarified that there are "no immediate plans" to bring in a charge for contactless payments.
It has been reported that AIB would introduce a €0.20 charge for contactless payments from February 24th 2017. Having contacted the bank, however, Newstalk.com has learned this is not the case. A spokesperson for AIB has clarified
"We don’t currently charge a transaction fee for contactless as it’s waived. We have no immediate plans to charge."
This means that the only bank to charge for contactless payments is Bank of Ireland. Here is a breakdown on the charges for using 'contactless payments' at present.
AIB €0.00
Bank Of Ireland €0.01
KBC €0.00
Ulster Bank €0.00
PTSB €0.00
What is contactless?
The majority of new debit cards issued by banks have a small chip that uses Near Field Communication. This means that you can simply place your card on top of a machine that also has this NFC technology to carry out a transaction. The idea is that it makes things as quick, if not quicker, as using cash.
The limit on these type of transactions was initally €15 when first introduced, but then Minister Michael Noonan increased that to €30.
If you want to stick to cold hard cash, the following charges are in place every time you use an ATM.
AIB €0.35
Bank Of Ireland €0.25
KBC €0.30
Ulster Bank €0.00
PTSB €0.00
So contacless is actually cheaper on BOI and the same for the others. Another charge that appears on bank statements is “Maintenance fees per quarter” .
AIB €4.50
Bank Of Ireland €5.00
KBC €6.00
Ulster Bank €12.00
PTSB €12.00
How to avoid the fees?
AIB Keep €2,500 in the account at all times
Bank Of Ireland Keep €3,000 in the account at all times
KBC Lodge €2,500 each month
Ulster Bank Keep €3,000 in the account at all times
PTSB If you have an Explore acocunt, there’s a clever way to cap the annual charges at €12 – so talk to the bank!
