Sir, - Today I went to the local branch of the AIB to pay my phone bill. After taking my money and processing the payment the cashier informed me that there was now a charge of 40p for the privilege of paying a bill. This, she said, applied to all payments of this kind except to the ESB. The official reason is that the banks want to discourage people paying bills in cash over the counter and to encourage payment by other means. I retorted that the real reason was to add to the AIB's billions.
That, of course, is precisely the intention. Allied Irish Banks plc made a billion pounds in the last financial year. Are they really so desperate for money that they are going to extract a few pence from everyone who comes in the door cash in hand?
David Perrott, Mount Emla, Douglas, Cork.