Funding a trade account

failsafe

I've recently set up an account with an online stockbroker, and after the lengthy set up, i'm now ready to put some money in and start buying shares. The only problem is, i'm finding it pretty difficult to give them my money!

After a bit of research I chose www.firstrade.com, and the only option available to me seems to be to call into my local branch to manually ask for a wire transfer of funds, and due to the opening hours of banks here that's a major pain in the tits!

I was just wondering if anyone here has an e*trade/ameritrade/sharebuilder account, and if so how they fund them? Is there any Irish bank that allows you to fund one of these accounts directly? (and not the Aib/goodbody thing, that's far too pricey)

Or better still, is there any Irish bank in the ACH scheme?

I've called AIB and BOI and they answered me with a "duh?" and PTSB confidently said no!

A Random Walk

I can use AIB online banking to send international transfers - all you need is a Swift and I seem to remember IBAN number which the stockbroker will give you.

failsafe

Oh Sweet!

Have you done it specifically with an online stockbroker? I think I have an AIB acc that i set up in college for the free pens or something, that i can get aib-online set up on.

A Random Walk

failsafe wrote:

Have you done it specifically with an online stockbroker?

Yup. You'll still have to pay normal fees though, but it's all easy enough.

PDelux

I can use AIB online banking to send international transfers - all you need is a Swift and I seem to remember IBAN number which the stockbroker will give you.

But it only lets you send 5k at a time which means you pay charges on every 5k you transfer over... maybe there's some good reason for this but seems like a way of making more money for the banks..
and there is a kind of hidden charge on the other side, i cant remember exactly how much.
(this is from AIB to E*trade)

A Random Walk

The 5k is a security limit I seem to remember. I've only occasionally used AIB online, it's just as easy to stroll into the bank and hand the nice teller the form.

failsafe

And just out of curiostity, what would the transfer fees on 1k be? I'm not brimming with cash flow and I was hoping to build a portfolio slow and steady. I'm just trying to figure out what amount I'd have to save up before I transfer to make it worth while, or are the fees on a % basis?

GP

check out fexco.ie for international transfers. very good service and low charges.

A Random Walk

failsafe wrote:

And just out of curiostity, what would the transfer fees on 1k be? I'm not brimming with cash flow and I was hoping to build a portfolio slow and steady. I'm just trying to figure out what amount I'd have to save up before I transfer to make it worth while, or are the fees on a % basis?

It's a fixed fee as far as I remember, about 25 quid or somesuch depending on the speed of the transfer.

1k is quite low btw to buy individual shares (usually as fees will eat up too much of your investment). You may be better off putting it into a fund in Ireland (look for low fees) and only when you've built up a more substantial fund think about buying individual shares.

failsafe

Well the stockbroker I'm with charge $6.95 per transaction (i.e. share purchase) so I wouldn't see that (roughly half a percent) as too huge a chunk out of my potential earnings.

I may however just save up a bit more before I transfer to the stockbroker account, do it in batches of 5k or so.