Students get refund after bank's mistake

Students who opened current accounts with Ulster Bank before the end of 2005 could be set for an early Christmas present after the bank announced plans to refund €950,000 in fees incorrectly charged over a nine-year period.

Ulster Bank said 10,775 student customers in the Republic would receive an average payout of €88 each plus compound interest.

This is the latest in a long list of overcharging scandals in recent years that has involved most Irish financial institutions.

The refunds will begin on Monday and the bank has set up a free phone number - 1800 251010 - for customers.

Ulster Bank said the refunds relate to fees and interest that were "inadvertently charged" to some student accounts between 1996 and the end of 2005.

It said the overcharging was uncovered during an internal review of accounts and was due to an error in the "manual process". "Ulster Bank wishes to apologise to the affected customers for the matter and is contacting these individuals to make a full refund," the bank said in a statement.

Ulster Bank is also set to repay £1.05 million to customers in Northern Ireland who were overcharged. They will receive an average £66 (€92), plus interest. In August, Ulster Bank admitted it would have to refund more than €4.2 million to 25,000 customers here whom it overcharged two years ago in relation to payment protection policies.