AIB has refunded €266,000 to customers that it mistakenly charged for stamp duty on their credit cards and apologised to the 3,773 customers involved. Laura Slatteryreports.

Over the last 10 years the bank wrongly charged the credit card customers the government stamp duty during periods in which they were not resident in the Republic.

The total sum refunded to the customers includes interest paid by AIB. The bank would not have profited from the mistake as the stamp duty is collected by financial institutions and passed on to the Revenue Commissioners on behalf of the Government.

In a statement, AIB said it had discovered the mistake as part of an overall review of charges and had written to affected customers with overseas statement addresses. "Procedures have been put in place to ensure that this does not occur again," the bank said.

AIB chief executive Eugene Sheehy last year announced the end of the bank's investigation into overcharging.

The total cost of the bank's repayments to customers and charity donations was in excess of €65 million, with a substantial portion of this relating to overcharging on foreign exchange transactions.

The financial regulator has been made aware of the error and the refund.

Stamp duty on credit, debit and ATM cards, which is usually deducted from cardholders' accounts on April 1st, is a bugbear for consumers, banks and the payments industry, which believes it is hampering the Republic's transition from a cash-based society to one where electronic payments are the norm.

Former minister for finance Charlie McCreevy increased the credit card stamp duty from €19 per account to €40 in December 2002.

The Irish Bankers' Federation, of which AIB is a member, has consistently lobbied for the removal of the taxes.