Back in February Ulster Bank announced a whole host of extra fees for its current account customers. These new fees will come into effect this Friday 19th April - so here’s a reminder of what’s changing.
If you're an Ulster Bank customer then it won't be a 'Good Friday' for you as the bank introduces its new current account fee structure which will see most people pay more each month.
Old fee structure
Under the old fee structure Ulster Bank customers paid a €4 monthly account maintenance fee. After that all day-to-day banking was free, which meant no charges for direct debits, taking out money from an ATM, or for using your card to pay for things in store or online.
New fee structure
Under the new fee structure, the account maintenance fee is being reduced to €2. However, at the same time, the bank is introducing a host of fees for day-to-day transactions.
| Maintenance fee (per month) | €2 |
| ATM withdrawal fee | €0.35 |
| Chip and pin fee | €0.20 |
| Online banking transactions | €0.20 |
| Automated payments into your accounts e.g. wages | €0.20 |
| Direct debit/standing order fee | €0.20 |
| Contactless fee | €0.01 |
| Branch-assisted transactions | €0.80 |
Will I be worse off?
If you’re a medium or heavy account user you'll end up paying far more each month, especially if you like to take out cash often. But if you use your account rarely then you could end up paying slightly less or around the same.
Here’s an example of how your fees will stack up from 19th April. Comparisons are based on the following assumptions:
Low user - one contactless transaction a day, and three chip and pin transactions, three direct debits/standing orders, two ATM withdrawals, one online transaction and one wage lodgement a month.
Medium user - two contactless transactions a day, and seven chip and pin transactions, 8 direct debits/standing orders, five ATM withdrawals, two online transactions and one wage lodgement a month.
High user - three contactless transactions a day, and eight chip and pin transactions, 10 direct debits/standing orders, seven ATM withdrawals, four online transactions and one wage lodgement a month.
| Account usage | Cost each month under old fee structure | Cost each month under new fee structure | Total monthly cost |
| Low | €4 | €2.61 + €2 maintenance fee | €4.61 |
| Medium | €4 | €5.97 + €2 maintenance fee | €7.97 |
| High | €4 | €7.98 + €2 maintenance fee | €9.98 |
How can I avoid fees with Ulster Bank?
Day-to-day fees can be avoided if you keep €3,000 in your account at ALL times but you cannot avoid Ulster Bank's €2 monthly maintenance fee.
Customers over the age of 66 will be exempt from the maintenance fee and transaction charges, while youth, student and graduate accounts will not be affected by the changes.
Get switching
Don’t want to pay more?
Well the good news is that there’s lots of choice and you can quickly and easily compare current account fees and charges across all providers on bonkers.ie.
Here’s our take on which bank has the best current account right now. And if you need some information on how to switch current account, you can find that here too.
