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Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 11:30 am
by trevnhil
I used to pay the electric bill at the local BOC bank but now I pay it online. It is just a shame that I cannot pay bills from our municipality online as well..
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 2:58 pm
by RattyPatty
I have read about the charges but no mention of direct debits. I have messaged the bank about this but obviously won't hear back till next week earliest. Wondered if anyone knew already.
I don't live here and have all my bills paid this way so will be very inconvenient if I have to start paying them all by card. As I most certainly won't be paying to pay a bill that will be less than the bank charge.
I do have the 1bank app.
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 7:42 pm
by Kili01
Does the above mainly apply to BOC? I’m with Alpha, and so far my bank accounts aren’t loaded with these extra charges!
Dee
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 7:24 am
by jeba
Do you even need a Cypriot bank account anymore given that there are services like revolut.com? Does anybody have experience with them? Are they reliable and convenient?
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 9:30 am
by Lofos-Jan
But surely accounts such as Revolut are completely online anyway. I have a Hellenic account and online transfers are free including SEPA transfers which are now free up to €1000 so there is not much point in changing. I do completely disagree with the huge hike in branch banking charges which directly hits the elderly members of society who do not have online access. OK have charges but from £2 to £5 to pay an electric or water bill when you maybe can't travel to the only two electric offices in Paphos is pretty mean.
Jeanne
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 11:09 am
by emgee
HIC
How much does this cost you in petrol or is the Company paying?
Alan
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 3:17 pm
by Lofos-Jan
Les Bean wrote: ↑Sun Nov 10, 2019 9:37 am
jeba wrote: ↑Sun Nov 10, 2019 7:24 am
Do you even need a Cypriot bank account anymore given that there are services like revolut.com? Does anybody have experience with them? Are they reliable and convenient?
These days as far as I can work out there is absolutely no need to have a Cypriot bank account. I do have one but haven't needed to visit a physical branch for years. With my Transferwise multi currency debit card, and both a sterling and euro account everything could be done through them, but the main drawback is no direct debit facility
So where is your money exactly?
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 3:25 pm
by jeba
In my Germany bank account (which is completely free of any charges) and my broker account.
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 3:40 pm
by Jimgym
I haven't used my Cyprus bank account for years now. I have a euro and a sterling account with an I.O.M. bank. I do use the bank cash machine for free withdrawals but thats it.
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 5:58 pm
by kansas
We have two bank accounts, one with BOC and the other with Hellenic. When we had cash transferred from the UK to our current account at the BOC it was taking an average of 48 hours to show in our account (that's 48 hours after Currency Fair informed us that the exchange had taken place and the transfer made). With Hellenic, we transferred through Currency Fair at 3.30 p.m. on Thursday afterrnoon and it reached our current account at 0830 on Friday. We received an SMS at 0900 confirming this. We do all our banking on-line.
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 11:18 am
by Lofos-Jan
jeba wrote: ↑Sun Nov 10, 2019 3:25 pm
In my Germany bank account (which is completely free of any charges) and my broker account.
The problem is that if you haven't already got an account in another country, it is not so easy to open one now. So for many, a Cypriot bank is the only real option. I did look into opening an international bank account but the charges are more than my Cyprus account.
Jeanne
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:14 pm
by boycott
There is no such thing as free banking!
All that happens is that the charges are hidden by lower interest rates or lower exchange rates than the real rates.
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:36 pm
by galexinda
kansas wrote: ↑Sun Nov 10, 2019 5:58 pm
We have two bank accounts, one with BOC and the other with Hellenic. When we had cash transferred from the UK to our current account at the BOC it was taking an average of 48 hours to show in our account (that's 48 hours after Currency Fair informed us that the exchange had taken place and the transfer made). With Hellenic, we transferred through Currency Fair at 3.30 p.m. on Thursday afterrnoon and it reached our current account at 0830 on Friday. We received an SMS at 0900 confirming this. We do all our banking on-line.
Does BOC or Hellenic make a charge for the incoming payment from Currency Fair? I note that in their price list Alpha Bank charges €2 per transaction if the amount is €2000 +.
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:57 pm
by kansas
We haven't been charged so far but the latest transaction was only a few days ago.
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 2:04 pm
by trevnhil
The charges are not supposed to stat until January
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2019 4:32 pm
by galexinda
The Bank of Cyprus (BoC) announced on Thursday it would suspend the introduction of new charges for its services due to be introduced in January and offer intensive training to the elderly on how to be able to use electronic banking.
https://cyprus-mail.com/2019/11/14/bank ... IbBABeBeHk
Re: Banks getting greedy - governments says it will act
Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2019 5:30 pm
by wilky
No amount of training the elderly will eliminate the need for cash a classical example are outlets in Paphos Mall that only take cash no cards or phones of any type.Not to mention banks closing branches and removing ATM's in the UK in villages were this has happened local shops only take cash so you have to go to an ATM which charges,is this the way Cyprus is going.