Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Is the bank not concerned that new entrants to the market such as Revolut will take over? Many young people, in particular, are using those alternatives. They have caught on to the banks. If all those customers who have less than €2,500 in their accounts per day, whom the bank is charging fees because they are not providing it with enough credit, withdrew their money at 12 o'clock tomorrow, the bank would collapse. It would fold overnight. Those customers are keeping the representatives' bank alive and keeping them in jobs. Increasing numbers of them are considering moving to these different types of companies, which provide free fees, free transactions, no charges for using ATMs and they do not differentiate between whether one customer is wealthier than another. Permanent TSB had a major drive to offer free fees in its model with respect to its newer accounts on the basis of the transaction-based reward scheme but it has screwed over its old existing customers. These are legacy accounts.

It is interesting to consider business and banking because the same practices do not marry with respect to both. An airline offers passengers who fly with it frequent flyer miles. If a person stays in the same hotel, they are offered a discount or a commercial rate. If one is a loyal customer of the local pub, one might get a free drink at Christmas. When it comes to loyalty to one's bank, existing customers seem to be the ones who are being screwed over. The loyal customers are the ones who are paying higher interest rates in terms of the legacy accounts, they are the ones who are paying higher fees in terms of simply having an account with the bank.