Couple of RaboDirect questions.

parsi

I have a few Rabodirect questions:

1. Is the Rabo sortcode an Irish one or a Dutch one ?

2, Normally how long do transfers into your account take ?

3. Is it possible to lodge other funds directly to your account eg Child Benefit ? (I know you could get it paid into your Irish bank account and transfer it out but that would incur fees)

4. How long does it take to setup accounts - actual experience versus The Ads ?

RaboDirect

parsi wrote:

I have a few Rabodirect questions:

1. Is the Rabo sortcode an Irish one or a Dutch one ?

2, Normally how long do transfers into your account take ?

3. Is it possible to lodge other funds directly to your account eg Child Benefit ? (I know you could get it paid into your Irish bank account and transfer it out but that would incur fees)

4. How long does it take to setup accounts - actual experience versus The Ads ?

Our sort code is an Irish sort code. Our clearing bank is BNP.

Transfers inwards - this really depends on the bank you are making the payment from. The clearing cycle is now down to 2 days (still too slow in our view).
Transfer out - if you make a transfer out of a RaboDirect account before 12.00 on a working day it should hit the destination account the next day.

Child Benefit - works the same in RaboDirect as any other bank. Many customers have set up accounts for their kids (or relatives such as grandparents etc.) We do require a copy of the child's birth cert.

Setting up an account - there was a slight delay in opening accounts a few weeks ago as we had a lot of people opening up accounts with their SSIA lump sum. But we're back on track now. It's very important that applicants submit the correct and original account opening documentation as this is the main reason for delays in opening accounts. So if you send a completed application it will be processed within a couple of days. You will then receive a welcome pack with your Digipass (which is used to access your accounts and provides levels of online security that exceeds that of Irish banks). A couple of days later you will receive a PIN for your Digipass and then you'll be up and running.

Hope this answers your questions.

parsi

Thanks for that. They certainly answer my questions. Do ye open late on Wednesday mornings ? I went to my local branch and hand't realised they open at 10.30 on Wednesdays. They also suggested that the withdrawal from one account and lodgement to another could only be done overnight....

To setup an account for a Minor do you have to have an account yourself ?

I'll hang on and see if anyone else has anything to add just to see if there are any other experiences.

stepbar

Rabodirect forgot to tell you that they dont have branches or ATMs. About as useful as a needle in a haystack. Rabodirect.... the proverbial one trick pony.

parsi

Do you work for the Irish Banking Federation or summat ? Credit unions offer broadly similar facilities and are very very popular.

I'm looking for somewhere that will pay decent interest and allow relatively easy access to the money - it's not an account for getting money while on the beer. The main Irish banks are offering poor rates or else have laughably low maximum monthly deposits or max balance on which they'll pay interest. for example - AIB Junior saver has no limits but pays 1.5 %, the online savings pays over 4% but has max of 1000 per month and no direct lodging, the HICA only pays on balances up to 1500. from what I can see BOI are much the same - higher rate accounts have limited monthly lodgements.

stepbar

The difference being you can walk into a Credit Union. Try walking into Rabodirect and you'd have a big burly security guard escort you off the premises . As i've said - one trick pony.

parsi

I only need them to perform one trick and perform it well..

Be interestng to hear any experiences folk have had with them.

RaboDirect

stepbar wrote:

The difference being you can walk into a Credit Union. Try walking into Rabodirect and you'd have a big burly security guard escort you off the premises . As i've said - one trick pony.

Our pony can actually multi-task...we do investments, personal lending as well as savings.

We don't operate a branch walk-in service. Transactions are done online. However, we do have Customer Contact Centre that operates from Mon-Fri from 8am-8pm and the crew there can handle all queries including walking customers through how to conduct transactions online. We used to to open on Saturday but stopped it as there wasn't really a demand for it.

Our offices are located in the IFSC in Dublin. Occassionally applicants do drop in to hand in account applications. We don't turn people away.

BuffyBot

Stepbar, I suggest you check your hang ups at the door in future. Your contributions have already helped to cause one thread to be closed recently, so I would hope that would have guided you on how to act in this forum.

00112984

Personally, as a customer of both AIB and Rabo, I'm much happier with the service I get from Rabo. While access to an ATM would be handy, the online system is easy to use and gets the job done.

I don't think Rabo was ever established as a hole-in-the-wall service for getting €20 on a Friday night but most suited to savers who can benefit interest-wise on either lodging a lump sum for use later for purchasers (hence the popularity with SSIA holders) or regular savers who don't want the temptation of being able to get at their cash instantly.

Rabo have always marketed themselves as a on-line bank and have never pretended to be a replacement for bricks and mortar/ATM facilities.

On top of that, I much prefer Rabo's customer service and marketing approach. AIB ring me at least twice a month for various surveys and, no matter how many time I request to not be called, they ring again from a "different department". I also hate the constant calls/e-mails and letters I get from various factions within AIB asking me if I want a creditcard/loan/second mortgage etc. Rabo leave me alone (bar the very occasional e-mail) but their customer services department is very good when I do need something (AIB's 24-hour banking CS left a very bad taste in my mouth following an incident a few months ago).

OP- as a customer, I'm happy with Rabo and would recommend them. I'll just add that I have no affiliation with the bank or banking industry and no vested interest in Rabo. I'm just a happy customer.

dellas1979

Yes. I think that it is a great service too.

If you want an account you can withdraw money from with a card. Stay with your regular banking.

If you want savings, then Rabo are quite good.

I had no problems opening an account. Sending money to the account. I even lost my digipass (hehehe I thought Id be given out to) and they replaced it within a few days free of charge.

Their customer service is also very friendly. Not at all condecending.

I, like poster above, have an AIB and rabo account.

it suits me also, as if the odd moment of shopping hysteria etc gets to me, I know I cant get at it that easily.

TheDriver

Rabo gets my thumbs up also! Never had a problem. Bit of a pain sending off docs etc initially but it all works a dream to be honest and good interest.

parsi

Thanks for the info folks. Herself is gathering the paperwork as I type...

ixoy

My own question - pretty simple.

Is there any limit on the amount that you can deposit? I wouldn't have thought so but didn't notice it in the FAQ.

BuffyBot

I don't think there is any limit, but I'm fairly sure that once you go over a certain figure the interest drops, but I think that cap if something like €1 million. I'm sure RaboDirect will correct me if I'm wrong

BendiBus

BuffyBot wrote:

I don't think there is any limit, but I'm fairly sure that once you go over a certain figure the interest drops, but I think that cap if something like €1 million. I'm sure RaboDirect will correct me if I'm wrong

5% on savings up to €10,000, then 3.75% up to €1million.

dellas1979

No, no there is no limit.

You can deposit what you want - there is no cap. The only thing, which has been mentioned, are the interest rates.

BendiBus

But if you have a spare million to hand, you really should be looking at more than deposit accounts!

run_Forrest_run

I have a Rabo account also and yes, it is alright. I mean I just deposit money and that's about it. However I did find that their online application is a bit slow or badly designed...once logged in you have the option to create new Savings Accounts...fair enough so I tried to do it...the application just threw and error.

So I emailed the customer service with the error code. They got back to me within 24 hours (fair enough) and said they were 'unexpectedly busy lately' and that the system was not performing as well as it should..OK I so put this down to a once off problem.

A few weeks later I tried to do the same task again and I got the same error.
I contacted the Customer Support again and they fed me the same spiel. I just hope that they are not going to fully serve the customer with a decent fully functional online service.

I will keep an eye on the online application and see if it improves.

Traffic

Any sign of Rabo direct increasing their interest rate as a result of the new First Active Product? As im thinking of moving

Champ

Any sign of Rabo direct increasing their interest rate as a result of the new First Active Product? As im thinking of moving

A very valid question as this product seems geared towards besting rabodirect.

For those who aren't sure what we're talking about:
http://www.firstactive.ie/savings/online_accounts/index.aspx

Of Note:
5.22% AER on savings up to €15,000, then 4.07% up to €1,000,000.

Comeon rabodirect do something to convince your customers to stay put.:)

Traffic

I got this reply from Rabo when i mailed them asking them if they are to increase rates as i was thinking of moving:

Rabodirect have increased the rate many times before, however we decided not to increase the rate in June with the ECB increase.
At RaboDirect we remain Best Buy for our customers because we continue to offer high rates as well as the accessibility to your money and flexibility in terms of how often you can get at it.

So before you decide to move to a competitor…

Do they cater for lump sum deposits?
Will they give you access to your money without penalty?
Are there any hidden bonuses?
Can you access your account online 24/7?
Are you limited to the amount you can save?
Do you have to make monthly deposits?
Are you restricted to a limited number of withdrawals per year?

Its your money, so its up to you! - By all means make the best choice for yourself and we would encourage you to do this. But it might make more sense to keep your RaboDirect account open and continue to keep some savings with us and put some with a competitor that if thats what suits you best.

Kind regards,

Colonel Sanders

just had a quick scan of the first active account and it seems to offer all that rabo does. Mailed em asking how long the rate is guaranteed for or if there's a promise to track the ECB rate +/- a margin etc.

BuffyBot

Traffic wrote:

Its your money, so its up to you!

At least their being quite upfront about it. TBH unless there was a huge difference, changing rates from once place to the next continually seems an awful waste of ones time!

Traffic

This was in the indo on Monday

Someone with €20000 on deposit would earn €986 from First Active's eSavings account, compared with €875 over a full year from RaboDirect.

If its true I think it would make any move worth it

Colonel Sanders

sticking 15k in FA and 5k in rabo would pay more. Pays 1033 gross interest over a year.

I make it 986.50 from FA and 870 from Rabo if the full 20k was stuck in just one account

stepbar

The one trick pony i see.....

RaboDirect

The RaboDirect variable rate of 5% on your first €10,000 will be in place until the rest of the year. First Active are not promising anything right now if you ask them - all they say is that "it's a new product and they haven't made any decisions about what they'll do". This is from their call centre.
However, they do currently offer marginally higher rates than us right now which could change in the coming months.

Bear in mind that when you apply for their esavings account you must consent to an Irish Credit Bureau check and answer a range of status questions such as whether or not your homeowner, tenant, living with parents, how long you've lived at your address etc. None of these questions are relevant in a savings account application. Presumably if your ICB credit check comes back with a less than perfect history they could decline you for a savings account.

In terms of online banking security, RaboDirect remains the only bank in Ireland to give its customers a "No Fraud Online Guarantee" and we have implemented levels of security that are way higher than the Irish banks (which includes Ulster Bank & First Active) who still rely on static passwords and PIN's that are very vulnerable to phishing and key stroke logging attacks.

But as we say, what you see is what you get with RaboDirect. We've been consistently paying higher rates of interest since we launched forcing many other banks to up their rates. So when you look at the total offer and you feel that someone else offers something better then go for it.

BendiBus

stepbar wrote:

The one trick pony i see.....

You sure are :rolleyes:

parsi

stepbar wrote:

The one trick pony i see.....

Yawn... (we need a yawn smiley).

Perhaps we should also see what the main banks are doing eg AIB and BOI - I can see the mortgage rates have gone up but the deposit rates are still teensy-weensy The same old trick - up the interest they charge but not the interest they pay...

Colonel Sanders

can't understand why people who work in an industry will defend that industry at all costs in the face of all evidence. Eventho I'm not a rabo customer fair play to them, what kind of rates were the traditional high street banks offering before they and the likes of northern rock came along.