It's the second bad news for current account customers in Ireland in the space of a week following the news of Ulster Bank's planned exit from Ireland.
It’s been a bad week or so for current account customers in Ireland.
Firstly Ulster Bank announced its exit from Ireland after more than 160 years here, severely reducing competition in the banking sector and forcing hundreds of thousands of current account holders to look for a new provider.
Now An Post has taken the surprise decision to end its popular MoneyBack rewards programme, which had allowed account holders to earn cashback on various purchases and bills.
For example shoppers at Lidl could earn 5% back on all transactions of €25 and above, sports fans could get 8% back on all in store and online purchases at Intersport Elverys, holiday seekers could get 5% back on all bookings at Sunway, and fast food lovers got 5% back on all purchases at SuperMacs.
However from 30th April, that's all ending as the scheme is set to close.
Why?
The official line from An Post is that the scheme is closing as part of an ongoing review process and there’s no word yet on whether any new type of rewards scheme will replace it.
But these schemes seem to be falling out of favour with Irish banks and lenders, with Bank of Ireland closing its own scheme (Live Life Rewards) only a few months ago too. Meanwhile Permanent TSB’s Explore account, which launched to much fanfare a few years back promising lots of cashback offers on bills with select providers has also been languishing. One of the three initial providers, iD mobile, exited the scheme shortly after launch when it went into liquidation and was never replaced, leaving SSE Airtricity and Sky as the only two partners left to this day.
The end of the MoneyBack programme definitely leaves An Post as one of the more expensive current account providers in Ireland.
The account has a €5 monthly fee while customers are also charged a 60 cent fee for every ATM withdrawal and 50 cent for any cash or cheque lodgements at a Post Office. Meanwhile the foreign exchange fees are the highest among all the providers.
You can see how the account compares to all the others here.
Compare current accounts
If you’re an An Post customer disappointed about this news, why not consider switching current account providers?
At bonkers.ie it’s easy to find the best value current account that best suits your needs using our comprehensive comparison tool. Our comparison service outlines different account features and charges from Ireland’s banks and shows you what your monthly fees would be.
Check out our helpful guide on how to switch current accounts for more information on the switching process or have a listen to our recent podcast episode where we take a deep dive into current accounts on offer.
Did you know that by switching current accounts, you can often avail of better mortgage rates? Many banks reserve their best mortgage offers for their current account customers.
Get in touch?
Are you a current account customer with An Post? What do you think about today’s news? Will it force you to change provider?
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