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Mobile phone & bank account information

  • 18-08-2003 7:42pm
    #1
    alindinger
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭


    Hi!

    As I'm going to Ireland for the next nine months, I've got two important questions:

    * What's the best mobile phone provider and what are the best offers for prepaid-card mobile phones?

    * Do Irish banks offer special bank accounts for students and which banks can be recommended?

    Thanks a lot for your advice!

    Regards, Andy


Comments

  • #2
    JackKelly
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,225 ✭✭✭JackKelly


    most of the phone companies are grand. There are only 3:

    Vodafone - 087 is the prefix
    Vodafone Ireland

    02 - 086 is the prefix
    o2

    Meteor - 085 is the prefix
    Meteor

    They all have their good points. o2 seem to have the best all around (in my opinion) and im with vodafone. Meteor have excelent offers. Cheap text messages (free to other meteor phones i think) but have dodgy coverage, also sometimes messages don't deliver for ages etc. Vodafone are probably the most reliable but are also probably the most expensive. You should have a look yourself. Make sure to look at the tariffs. If you just want a phone with no frills, it should only put you back about €100 or less


    As far as bank accounts, im pretty sure there are special student accounts. I have an account with AIB (im 16) and i didn't have to pay anything. I can't tell you much about these


  • #3
    seamus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    As said above. If you're going to be making international calls on your mobile, particularly to the UK, you'll be better off with a meteor mobile. However, if you're mainly going to be calling other mobiles within Ireland, you're better off with O2 or Vodafone, since relatively few people have Meteor mobiles.

    There are special student bank accounts. You pay no bank charges on these, which is handy. All of the banks are pretty much similar, but from my own experience, Bank of Ireland cause the least hassle.

    Just watch out for Government charges if you are getting a student credit card or anything other than a standard ATM card.

    :)


  • #4
    skipn_easy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 428 ✭✭skipn_easy


    AIB is the best bank for students imo. They have great deals for you when you first open a student account with them - money off vouchers, free phones, etc. and their staff (the ones I've dealt with anyway) are really helpful. No charges on student accounts as well which is great. Bank of Ireland also offer good student freebies but their service leaves a lot to be desired. After having an account with them for a year I would never use them again. Ulster bank doesn't offer much in the way of offers, but they do let students have no interest overdrafts on their accounts and tend to have much smaller queues than the other banks.

    I'd agree with TimAy about the mobile phone operators. Vodafone is very reliable but bad customer care and more expensive rates. O2 is next best, and Meteor are very sketchy when it comes to reception but they by far have the cheapest rates. If only everyone could change to Meteor! They have free Meteor to meteor calls after 10 (i'm not sure if thats still available) and free texts to meteor as well as cheap calls anytime of the day or night. Their customer service is excellent too. Its reasonably cheap to get a prepaid phone - expect to pay about 100 euro but you'll get loads of free credit. You might get a discount when you open a student account with AIB.


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