Bank of Ireland has revoked all fees on contactless transactions due to the deadly coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.

Effectively immediately, the bank will waive all the contactless transaction fees for the duration of the public health emergency.

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Bank of Ireland products director John O’Beirne said: “We are very conscious that contactless transactions are the safest and most practical solution for customers in the current climate.

“To that end, we are waiving all contactless fees.

“We also don’t want any customer to be out of pocket due to travel cancellations, so we will buy back foreign currency at the rate it was originally sold.”

The decision was revoked after Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe announced that he will raise the issue with the bank.

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This comes close on the heels of AIB suspending contactless transaction fee due to the virus outbreak.

Last week, AIB announced that it will charge one cent per contactless transaction from the end of May 2020.

Many customers are now making day-to-day transactions with contactless payments, following the advice given by the Government on social distancing and hand hygiene.

Using contactless payments instead of used banknotes mitigates the risk of person-to-person virus transmission since the notes can carry various viruses.

To help customers impacted by travel disruption, Bank of Ireland has also decided to repurchase foreign currency at original cost so that customers will not incur a financial loss.

Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) also urged customers to opt for contactless payments.

China and Korea have already started the process of sanitising used banknotes before recirculating them.

The Covid-19 death toll has crossed 7,100 and infected more than 182,000 people worldwide.

The outbreak has impacted more than 134 countries so far.