Bank of Ireland proposes abolition of Stamp Duty on ATM cards for 2nd Level Students

- Bank of Ireland continues its policy to pay stamp duty on behalf of 2nd level students
- 74% of student banking transactions via ATMs

Bank of Ireland today (Monday 27 September 2004) called for the abolition of Stamp Duty on ATM cards for second level students, some of whom are as young as 12 years of age, at the launch of its campaign to this market segment. Second level students who open a bank account with Bank of Ireland - 'the straight talking student bank', can avail of a 365 Cash card without having to pay the obligatory eur10 Stamp Duty on cards.

The decision by Bank of Ireland to continue to pay this stamp duty on behalf of these customers has been made because the Bank believes that young customers should be positively encouraged to manage their money sensibly and efficiently and any impediments to doing this should be removed. 74% of these customers conduct all their banking transactions via ATMs, making the stamp duty unavoidable for most of them. They also have small value balances in their accounts and in many cases the withdrawal of the Stamp Duty would clear the balance.

Patrick Farrell, Marketing Manager, Personal Banking, Bank of Ireland commented:
"74% of all transactions carried out by our second level student account holders are conducted at an ATM. Therefore these students are hugely reliant on their ATM card and we will continue to pay the eur10 Stamp Duty charge on their behalf. These young customers have little or no money and the withdrawal of this stamp duty would often clear their balance.

In addition, this policy runs contrary to the National Payment Strategy, which aims to encourage people to move towards electronic banking. Bank of Ireland research has also shown that both parents and the students themselves have similar strong views but often confuse the stamp duty as a bank charge, rather than a tax."

"This Stamp Duty also affects the competitiveness of our marketplace, as a customer wishing to move their account is liable for the duty on both the existing card and a new one. We are now the only bank to pay this duty on behalf of these customers," he concluded.

ENDS

Date: Monday 27th September 2004

For reference:
Patrick Farrell
Marketing Manager
Personal Banking
Tel: 01 6043739

Mary Brennan
Group Corporate Communications
Bank of Ireland
Tel: 01 6043838
086 8371961