NEARLY THREE IN four people in Ireland believe fees charged by banks for basic services are excessive, a new survey has said.

73% of people surveyed said that the that fees for services such as account maintenance and ATM withdrawals are too high.

Additionally, 79% of people want to see banks provide more simple ways of transferring and spending money abroad. 

The polling was conducted for money app Wise by market research company Censuswide, which surveyed 2,000 adults in Ireland in September 2024.

73% of those surveyed said they don’t understand overseas transaction fees or that they believe their bank should make the fees clearer.

43% felt their bank had overcharged them on hidden exchange rate fees last year.

Sentiments were more positive overall in some other areas but still identified that problems are felt by a proportion of consumers. 

37% believe there is a lack of competitive interest rates and 29% said they experienced poor customer service or lack of responsiveness by their bank.

27% were concerned by costly and slow international transactions and a further 25% believed there is a lack of transparency regarding bank fees.