As the implications of no more free banking starts to sink in - and some deposit account holders are charged for leaving their small sums with the bank - account holders are starting to raise objections to the changes being introduced by most of the main banks. Ms B from Maynooth is a Bank of Ireland customer and said that she recently calculated that between September 1997 and October 1998, excluding the standard (and unavoidable) Government taxes, "I paid bank fees of £5.85. Under the new fee structure these fees would have come to £27.72, an increase of approximately 370 per cent.
"I also object to the tone in which the bank is promoting the changes. Their covering letter to me implies they are doing me a great favour by increasing their charges on my account. They claim that I will `have the advantage of knowing at all times exactly what charges I am paying'. I already had a good idea of what I was paying - now I know I will be paying a hell of a lot more."
After contacting the bank, Ms B was told she was one of just 7 per cent of customers whose fees would be increasing, but she still thinks a nearly 400 per cent rise "is a bit much", especially since she has always kept a balance "of a couple of thousand in the account, so they have made plenty out of me over the years".
Ms B would like some suggestions on how to reduce the charges, which is part of a major overhaul of Bank of Ireland's complicated charging structure and central to its "100 Steps to Better Banking 2000" project.
Aside from moving to a bank which has not instituted such fee changes, such as National Irish Bank, Ulster Bank, ACC Bank, Irish Permanent and First Active and the building societies - where free banking still exists under certain circumstances and where the necessary cheque writing and ATM facilities are available - she could also join a large credit union where all available services, like setting up standing orders and direct debits, exist for no charge. The Credit Union League has started a limited ATM service.
Before Ms B does anything she might want to consider some of the downsides of switching a current account: there is considerable time and a little bit of money involved in identifying and then arranging for all standing orders and direct debits to be switched; to rearrange paycheques to be sent to new accounts and budget plans, if you have one, to be reorganised.
Advisers we spoke to said that while keeping your charges as low as possible was always a good idea, an annual account management bill of £27 was very cheap. Standardised and higher bank charges are becoming a universal feature of this industry as interest rates fall, one said, and our reader may want to consider the type of service she has had from her bank over the years and any relationships she may have built up with personnel before she moves on.
