The survey conducted by Customers for Life, an independent research company, on behalf of the IBF, found that the cost of operating a current account and of servicing a household mortgage in Ireland is well below the European average, while the cost of a personal term loan and a credit card are found to be very close to the European average.
A total of 53 banks from 13 European countries participated in the survey, which was carried out between November 2002 and February 2003.
The survey found that Ireland ranked fourth of eight participating countries in relation to the cost of operating a current account. The cost there is 22.5 per cent below the European average.
Personal term loans in Ireland were the fifth cheapest of the nine countries which responded, with the cost coming in at just 0.3 per cent above the European average.
Credit cards cost 1.3 per cent above the European average and Ireland ranked fourth of 8 countries, while home mortgages cost 6.4 per cent less than the European average, ranking Ireland as the third cheapest country out of nine countries.
Jim Bardon, director general of the IBF said the survey confirmed the Irish consumer banking market is competitively priced. ‘Ireland is shown to be well below the European average for the cost of current accounts and mortgages and very close to the European average for personal term loans and credit cards. This clearly indicates that, in overall terms, Ireland lies at the cheaper end of the European cost league. These results are particularly gratifying, coming as they do from an independently-conducted, fully transparent study. |
