Some Bank of Ireland cards to be blocked from AIB machines

ALLIED IRISH BANK has moved to block some Bank of Ireland cards from being used in their ATMs, in a move expected to affect a minority of customers.

The ATM-only cards, which do not allow Point of Sale transactions, will no longer function in Allied Irish Bank (AIB) ATMs from 3 April this year as they are not ‘internationally branded cards’, the bank said in a statement.

“All Bank of Ireland and other banks debits cards that are internationally branded debit cards will continue to operate at our ATMs as normal,” they added, saying that move was required to streamline transactions through “international schemes for processing”

Visa Debits

AIB is currently rolling-out Visa Debit cards to customers, replacing all Maestro Branded debit cards.

Advertisements informing customers of the decision appeared in national papers yesterday as a “courtesy”, a Bank of Ireland (BoI) spokesperson told TheJournal.ie

The spokesperson noted that only a small number of customers, such as third-level students and those with savings accounts, will be affected by the move, but that ultimately all customers will be migrated to Visa-Debit cards in the near future.

They stressed that BoI have the largest ATM network in Ireland, and that their ATM-only cards will continue to work in machines from other networks.

Pics: ATM ripped from bank wall using digger in early morning raid >

Explainer: What is this SEPA thing all about? >

Read: ATM fraud rose in 2013, so how do you spot a suspect machine? >