Bank of Ireland has flagged changes to its personal current accounts and overdrafts, which include the bank's right to insist in writing on full repayment of an overdraft even where it is within an agreed limit.

In a national newspaper advertisement on December 28th, the bank informed its customers of “Changes to personal current account and personal overdraft terms and conditions”.

It said existing terms and conditions were now supplemented by the six new conditions, which would take effect on March 1st.

Under the first new condition, customers are told that if their account is overdrawn “whether within an agreed overdraft limit or not”, they must repay the overdraft in full if the bank demands it in writing, without prior notification.

Cancellation
Customers are also informed that the bank can cancel an agreed overdraft, in full or in part, or refuse to carry out an instruction that would lead to an overdraft, by writing to them. The bank said it will always comply with consumer credit law in relation to this.

The bank said customers are free to terminate their contract if they do not wish to accept the conditions. If customers do not ask to break their contract before March 1st, they will be “deemed to have accepted the changes”.

A spokeswoman for Bank of Ireland was unable to address queries in relation to the changes yesterday, aside from saying the advertisement had been placed to ensure that the bank’s terms and conditions had been updated to comply with the rules known as Basel III, the international regulatory framework for banks. She said there would be “no customer impact”.

It is normal practice for banks to inform customers of changes to terms and conditions by advertising in national newspapers 60 days before they take effect.