Bank of Ireland Exchange Rates: Everything You Need to Know

Among the most well-known Irish banks and one of the country's "Big Four," Bank of Ireland boasts a nearly 240-year history in the banking industry, today offering a wide range of banking services and serves more than 2 million customers¹ from 169 branches² across the country.

However, despite Bank of Ireland's affordable reputation, when it comes to its exchange rates and the cost of making an international money transfers in particular, the bank remains rather expensive for those who are interested in keeping their costs low.

As you'll see, while the bank does charge a (relatively) low fee of €5.00 for outbound Euro payments to foreign currencies, this fee comes over and above a hidden exchange rate margin fee, which, when combined, can amount to more than 2.50% of your entire transfer amount if you're sending under €2,500.

Bank of Ireland International Transfer Fees

When sending money abroad with the Bank of Ireland, you'll be able to get the job done using either an international wire transfer via the Bank of Ireland Mobile Banking app or with your '365 Online' internet banking account. The transfer will be sent over SWIFT to reach its destination, and it'll be subject to several built-in fees, the size of which will depend on where you're sending money to, your payment method, and the urgency of your transfer.

Bank of Ireland charges the following fixed fees for international money transfers:

• €0.50 for international payments delivered in Euros to the EEA or the UK*.
• €5.00 for international payments to all other currencies.
• 0.20% (charged at a minimum of €12.50 and maximum of €50.00), plus an additional €25.00, for urgent transfers**.

In addition to the base fees that you'll pay when making a global transfer with Bank of Ireland, there may be other expenses yet before the money arrives in your beneficiary's account.

If you're sending a wire transfer, the most likely additional fee you'll encounter is a correspondent bank fee. This will typically cost you anywhere between €5.00 and €75.00 and could be levied without warning if your bank transfer cannot be made directly to your beneficiary's bank.

* Fees for transfers delivered to UK bank accounts in GBP, as opposed to EUR, are waived.
** Only available for transfers to EUR, GBP, and USD

Bank of Ireland Exchange Rates: Beware the Hidden Fees

Over and above the fees highlighted above, Bank of Ireland will also weave a hidden fee, known as an exchange rate margin, into every transfer you send abroad. This fee is less transparent than the standard fees and comes about when the bank offers you its own exchange rate that's slightly poorer than the one that you'll see on Google, for example (called the mid-market exchange rate.)

These hidden exchange rate margins fees are very high at Bank of Ireland, even compared to other Irish banks, and usually fall between 2.00% and 5.00% of the total transfer amount.

The Costs Combined

As we explore above, the fixed fees and exchange rate margins can make international payments at Bank of Ireland relatively high in general, especially if the costs were unanticipated to begin with.

Suppose, for example, you were to use Bank of Ireland for a €2,500.00 transfer to a friend in the US. After €63.62 in total fees was deducted from the send amount (coming from the €5.00 handling charge combined with the €68.62 exchange rate margin*), the remaining Euro amount would be converted across to US dollars and leave your friend with around US$2,877.

Contrast that to using Wise, a London-based global money transfer service, for the same transfer. With Wise, you'd pay only €10.79 in service fees without an exchange rate margin, getting your friend US$2,940 — over 2% more than they'd have received had you made your transfer with Bank of Ireland.

Take a look at the examples in the graph below to get a better idea of how Bank of Ireland's fees are broken up and what you might expect to pay when you send money abroad:

* Conversion made 10/09/2021

However, while competitive, Wise isn't always the cheapest money transfer service for transfers abroad from Ireland, and the best service to suit your needs will depend on the country to which you're sending and the transfer amount.

To find the best deal on every transfer, compare the top money transfer services on Monito's real-time comparison engine and save up to 95% compared to the bank:

Is Bank of Ireland Right For Your International Transfer?

Without a doubt, Bank of Ireland is an all-round reliable choice as an everyday banking partner and its international transfer are fast and relatively well-priced (at least according to dozens of other international banks we've analysed). However, while the fees Bank of Ireland levies on its international money transfers aren't, all told, too bad, if you're somebody who values saving money on every transfer you send abroad (as well as having your recipient receive more) then there are other much cheaper options out there for you to consider.

As such, if you'd like to keep your costs down, then we recommend comparing the market among the many low-cost currency exchange services out there, and discover which one might offer you the best rates. For this, we recommend running a search on Monito's real-time comparison engine to get the job done freely, quickly, and simply!

To get a better picture of how Bank of Ireland's foreign exchange services weigh up against the top international money transfer services on the Irish market, see how the services compare on a €2,500.00 transfer to the United States in the table below:

References Used in This Guide

1. Bank of Ireland Overview: Investor Relations

2. TheJournal.ie: Here's the full list of 103 Bank of Ireland branches set to shut across the island (01.03.2021)