So... I'm curious... Who DID actually switch banks?

Sad Professor

Switching from BOI to Ulster Bank shortly. I actually opened the Ulster Bank account last year while waiting for BOI to bring in Visa Debit. But with administration fees coming in I have to choose between them and the choice is a no brainer. My BOI credit card is almost cleared so I'll probably cancel that as well.

jonnny68

quaalude wrote: »

I left AIB last year, (20 years a customer) for Ulster Bank.
I upgraded my Ulster Bank account to a uFirst account to take advantage of the free iPhone insurance it offers, so I pay a tenner a month for my account.

Ulster Bank customer myself and just rang them to query the fees and the customer service representative i spoke to mentioned this uFirst, actually done a very good job of selling it to me as I was and still might switch to PTSB but with all these benefits for a tenner a month I'm considering staying especially the mobile insurance for my HTC One but I'm wondering what are the catches as there have to be some before I make a final decision?

rovoagho

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if UB did a Halifax or NIB in 2 or 3 years. RBS have all but shouted from the rooftops that they want shot of it.

Elessar

rovoagho wrote: »

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if UB did a Halifax or NIB in 2 or 3 years. RBS have all but shouted from the rooftops that they want shot of it.

NIB didn't go anywhere, they changed to Danske bank.

Speaking of which, I've been with them for 15+ years and they now charge me over €18 a quarter...I'm considering switching but I really like their mobile and online banking (and having the post office deal with everything else is really handy).

Nervous Wreck

Elessar wrote: »

NIB didn't go anywhere, they changed to Danske bank.

Speaking of which, I've been with them for 15+ years and they now charge me over €18 a quarter...I'm considering switching but I really like their mobile and online banking (and having the post office deal with everything else is really handy).

Is a mobile app and the post office worth €72 a year, is the question.

Elessar

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

Is a mobile app and the post office worth €72 a year, is the question.

Probably not. I am looking into PTSB, but there is a certain reluctance on my part if I'm honest, having had the a/c for so long.

rovoagho

Elessar wrote: »

NIB didn't go anywhere, they changed to Danske bank.

I didn't say they went anywhere. They basically pulled out of customer facing banking, was my point. If you want Rabo style banking they're perfect, apart from the fact that they're more expensive, have terrible customer service, and suck balls.

Elessar

rovoagho wrote: »

I didn't say they went anywhere. They basically pulled out of customer facing banking, was my point. If you want Rabo style banking they're perfect, apart from the fact that they're more expensive, have terrible customer service, and suck balls.

I've found their customer service to be exceptional, actually. Part of the reason I'm hesitate to change.

vicwatson

Switched from BOI to PTSB after 45 years as a customer of BOI, enough is more than enough

vicwatson

Elessar wrote: »

Probably not. I am looking into PTSB, but there is a certain reluctance on my part if I'm honest, having had the a/c for so long.

Change will do you good, and your bank balance, and seriously no hassle at all.

fartyarse

vicwatson wrote: »

Switched from BOI to PTSB after 45 years as a customer of BOI, enough is more than enough

Jeepers! Big change!

I wonder will BOI make any efforts to try get you back...

keith_d99

quaalude wrote: »

I left AIB last year, (20 years a customer) for Ulster Bank.
I upgraded my Ulster Bank account to a uFirst account to take advantage of the free iPhone insurance it offers, so I pay a tenner a month for my account.

Did the same myself .... bar the hassle of switching DDs and the rude Ulster Bank call centre staff - it was worth it!

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

120 a year ! Fair play

- Was paying €13 a month iphone insurance.
- Free travel insurance
- And have been refunded €400 ticketmaster charges (you get 25% back into your account automatically)

jonnny68 wrote: »

Ulster Bank customer myself and just rang them to query the fees and the customer service representative i spoke to mentioned this uFirst, actually done a very good job of selling it to me as I was and still might switch to PTSB but with all these benefits for a tenner a month I'm considering staying especially the mobile insurance for my HTC One but I'm wondering what are the catches as there have to be some before I make a final decision?

There are no catches that I can see - I checked the T+Cs of the mobile insurance and and it looks fine. The insurance is underwritten by Aviva

Sgt Pepper 64

Changed yesterday from BOI to Perm TSB. very straightforward

smemon

does anyone know why Credit Union don't issue debit cards & do online banking? if they did, i'd switch everything to the credit union...

The_Morrigan

smemon wrote: »

does anyone know why Credit Union don't issue debit cards & do online banking? if they did, i'd switch everything to the credit union...

They probably don't have the capital to undertake such a scheme.

spurious

Just completed the switch to PTSB from Bank of Ireland today. Opened my first Bank of Ireland account 43 years ago.

FaganJr

spurious wrote: »

Just completed the switch to PTSB from Bank of Ireland today. Opened my first Bank of Ireland account 43 years ago.

How long did it take from Sending off the forms to getting an active account??

The_Morrigan

FaganJr wrote: »

How long did it take from Sending off the forms to getting an active account??

I had an account available to me immediately, you just pick a date in the future to allow for your first wage to hit the new account and then no trouble with any debits. Its just timing.
My visa debit arrived within a week.

realgirl

Closing my BOI account next week after 17 years, opened a Money manager account with EBS instead.

Delta2113

realgirl wrote: »

Closing my BOI account next week after 17 years, opened a Money manager account with EBS instead.

- Did you just call in to office or get form's posted out? Be interested in the process.

realgirl

Delta2113 wrote: »

- Did you just call in to office or get form's posted out? Be interested in the process.

I called into an EBS branch where I already have an account so it was very easy to open a new one. I didn't "switch" officially so not sure what the process is for that. I had dwindled the use of my BOI account down over the past year so had no DDs, SOs etc to switch over. Sorry that info probably isn't much help to you!

spurious

FaganJr wrote: »

How long did it take from Sending off the forms to getting an active account??

I did the switch in the branch and had an active account within minutes that I then used online banking to switch some money into.

Jim2007

I've heard so much about how the banks mistreated customers and so on on this forum that I have to ask?

Do you seriously believe that PTSB will not introduce fees in the near future? Pretty much every bank in Europe charges for it's services unless you are willing to have around 5K on average on deposit with them, so I don't see how PTSB can be expected to continue to give away it's services over the long run...

I fully expect to hear one of these days that due the high costs blah blah, PTSB is going to have to charge fees as well...

Bowlardo

Jim2007 wrote: »

I've heard so much about how the banks mistreated customers and so on on this forum that I have to ask?

Do you seriously believe that PTSB will not introduce fees in the near future? Pretty much every bank in Europe charges for it's services unless you are willing to have around 5K on average on deposit with them, so I don't see how PTSB can be expected to continue to give away it's services over the long run...

I fully expect to hear one of these days that due the high costs blah blah, PTSB is going to have to charge fees as well...

Maybe they will but I would be certain that it will less than there other *****!

Jim2007

Bowlardo wrote: »

Maybe they will but I would be certain that it will less than there other *****!

How so?

rovoagho

I'm all set to move again when PTSB raise their fees.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...

But hey, you stay where you are and tell us how stupid we all are, huh?

Godwin?

Jim2007

rovoagho wrote: »

I'm all set to move again when PTSB raise their fees.

And you'll be moving to where then?

murphaph

Jim2007 wrote: »

And you'll be moving to where then?

The cheapest option. If every customer moved to the cheapest then no bank would charge transaction fees.

Anyway, SEPA is coming properly from February. A current account in any SEPA eurozone country will then be able to service direct debits and card payments etc. In the entire zone.

It's only a matter of time before continental online only banks like DKB.de (my main bank) start to look to expand.

Yggr of Asgard

Jim2007 wrote: »

I've heard so much about how the banks mistreated customers and so on on this forum that I have to ask?

Do you seriously believe that PTSB will not introduce fees in the near future? Pretty much every bank in Europe charges for it's services unless you are willing to have around 5K on average on deposit with them, so I don't see how PTSB can be expected to continue to give away it's services over the long run...

I fully expect to hear one of these days that due the high costs blah blah, PTSB is going to have to charge fees as well...

I don't know who you bank with in Europe but you might consider switching.

My bank does not charge me anything, in fact they even refund me ATM charges imposed by local banks outside euro zone. I got good quality online banking, a vpay card, a Visa charge card and a MasterCard credit card all for the silly price of 0€. And the fact that I even get ATM fees back when using my visa card makes it even sweeter. And there is no minimum balance required or minimum transactions, 0€ it is for years and I don't think any will come.

Once SEPA comes in February I will make my European bank my main account because the only reason for me to still have PTSB account is direct debits and once Irish companies can debit European accounts that's it.

Irish banks (and other companies) count on a simply fact, Irish people are just not willing to change who they use for services/utilities. When Halifax came and introduced their superior account (free banking plus visa debit) not enough people changed. When private health insurance came that was way cheaper than VHI people did not change, when cheaper gas providers came people still stayed at Board Gas. It is always only a very limited amount of people that are willing to change who they use even if that means that they have to pay hundreds of € for staying at their current providers.

If my European bank introduced fees I would change within seconds because it's easy and I don't like paying for things that are free. But than again, I changed my gas provider to the cheapest option, I changed my electricity provider to the cheapest provide and my broadband is also value for money.

murphaph

dublin-texas wrote: »

Once SEPA comes in February I will make my European bank my main account because the only reason for me to still have PTSB account is direct debits and once Irish companies can debit European accounts that's it.

Me too. I've been steadily closing accounts in Ireland as fees have been introduced and now I just have one Irish account left that I use to take rent payments and service a mortgage. From February that'll be gone too.

My bank here also refunds ATM charges from private ATMs (common in the states) and withdrawing money at any "standard" ATM is free (wordlwide!!). No transaction charges and they pay me (currently) 0.2% on account balances and 1.05% on Visa card positive balances (and they provide fraud protection for a Visa card in credit).

Because they pay me a bit of interest, I am not compelled to move every penny to my savings accounts, whereas my remaining Irish account always has the bare minimum in it on principle.

Delta2113

"Pretty much every bank in Europe charges for it's services unless you are willing to have around 5K on average on deposit with them"

- Total nonsense.

Just do abit of research on u.k. banks for example.

Delta2113

Jim2007 wrote: »

And you'll be moving to where then?

You could move to EBS


http://www.ebs.ie/daily-banking/ebs-moneymanager-account-a-debit-card.html

Jim2007

Delta2113 wrote: »

"Pretty much every bank in Europe charges for it's services unless you are willing to have around 5K on average on deposit with them"

- Total nonsense.

Just do abit of research on u.k. banks for example.

Yes and look at the shape of there banks....

Jim2007

If McDonalds started giving away free Big Macs or the local pup started to give away free pints & shorts indefinitely we'd expect the business to fail, so why should a bank that does the same expect to survive?

They're giving away their services, the credit card business is probably over extended, the investment business is shot to hell and they all have issues with their mortgage business... Where exactly are they going to earn the revenue to stay afloat?

To my mind this is the same kind of thinking that gave us the loss making trackers, 100% mortgages and all the other Celtic Tiger era gimmicks we're now paying the price for...

JTMan

Jim2007 wrote: »

If McDonalds started giving away free Big Macs or the local pup started to give away free pints & shorts indefinitely we'd expect the business to fail, so why should a bank that does the same expect to survive?

Banks can make money from you by offering free day-to-day banking services. For example ...

(1) Banks typically pay 0% interest on your current account but lend the money out at 4% - 15%. They have free use of your funds.

(2) Non EUR transactions attract a multitude of FX fees. Banks make money when you use your card outside the Eurozone.

(3) You are far more likely to purchase extra services with the bank that you have your current account with than with a bank that you do not have a relationship with. Mortgage sales go up. Loan sales go up. Insurance sales go up. Savings account sales go up.

(4) Banks make huge money from retailers who pay for the fact that you used your card in store. Retailers pay huge card fee charges. You indirectly pay this through higher retail prices.

murphaph

Jim2007 wrote: »

If McDonalds started giving away free Big Macs or the local pup started to give away free pints & shorts indefinitely we'd expect the business to fail, so why should a bank that does the same expect to survive?

Banks make money from lending your money to others at higher rates of interest than they pay you. That's "traditional" banking anyway.

Jim2007 wrote: »

They're giving away their services, the credit card business is probably over extended, the investment business is shot to hell and they all have issues with their mortgage business... Where exactly are they going to earn the revenue to stay afloat?

Who says rotten Irish banks NEED to stay afloat? I won't shed a tear if AIB especially goes down the tubes where they should have gone several times but for taxpayer bailouts.
With the full introduction SEPA the whole "systemically important" BS no longer applies either. A company will be just as able to pay its employees through a continental bank as through an Irish one from February (at the latest).

Jim2007 wrote: »

To my mind this is the same kind of thinking that gave us the loss making trackers, 100% mortgages and all the other Celtic Tiger era gimmicks we're now paying the price for...

German banks still offer trackers. The difference is that German banks never offered them at such low margins or to track the main refinancing rate of the ECB, rather EURIBOR. German banks even offer 100% mortgages to CERTAIN professions. It's all about exercising restraint.

But there are at least 3 online only current account products here that are free of charges without any conditions and many high street banks offer either the same or free banking with easy to attain minimum lodgements.

The Irish banks mostly don't deserve to survive. They are simply not very well run!

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

rovoagho

I wondered to myself if Jim2007 was a banker in disguise until they asked how the banks would make money without fees, thereby demonstrating their complete ignorance - and I mean that in the literal sense of the word - of the basics of banking. But then it occurred to me -- do /any/ Irish bankers actually have a good-goddamned clue what they're doing? I mean don't get me wrong, they're experts in the field of ripping people - and entire countries - off, but actual banking? I don't think so.

Sheep Shagger

rovoagho wrote: »

I wondered to myself if Jim2007 was a banker in disguise until they asked how the banks would make money without fees, thereby demonstrating their complete ignorance - and I mean that in the literal sense of the word - of the basics of banking. But then it occurred to me -- do /any/ Irish bankers actually have a good-goddamned clue what they're doing? I mean don't get me wrong, they're experts in the field of ripping people - and entire countries - off, but actual banking? I don't think so.

Hate to break it to you but the vast majority of retail bank staff had nothing to do with the property crash.

People often forget there were Joe Soap retail investors demanding big profits so that they received their fat dividend cheques, the only way BOI/AIB/Permo could do this was to begin lending money like it was confetti.

rovoagho

Yeah, you're breaking it to me. Way to condescend.

Retail bank staff aren't bankers any more than checkout assistants are shopkeepers. The banks got rid of all the bankers in the eighties and nineties. They're now assistants, receptionists, and most annoyingly, Girls That Wander Around The Lobby Annoying The Vast Queues When They Should Be Behind A Counter Actually Serving People. Not that I blame them for that, it's just what they're told to do by the "bankers".

Jesus, most branches don't even have proper managers these days because the "bankers" were so incredibly greedy and shortsighted they changed their titles so they could pay them less. At one point BOI had - could still have, I left them years ago - roving guys that managed more than one branch, and they wouldn't call them managers either.

I actually got a shock the other day when I got a letter from my new bank, PTSB, signed by a branch manager. I thought they were extinct.

Yggr of Asgard

Plus remember that every time you use your nice PTSB Visa debit card at a shop PTSB is getting at least 0.0015€ + 0.15% of the transaction from the credit card processor. Every time you use your PTSB Visa Credit card they get at least 0.5% of the transaction.

Banks make money in loads of ways these days that allow them to offer free banking, it's all about getting the customer to never put foot into a branch, use online banking as much as possible for standard transactions, keep a reliable balance on it and use the debit card instead of cash so that they have a constant earner.

Once SEPA comes I'm sure more and more banks are going after Irish customer for their current account (in fact there are loads of banks out there that now offer their products already to people living in other EU countries).

The only challenge is going to be to open the accounts due to strict money laundering rules and the tax implications of it.

But I guess like with everything else only a small amount of Irish customers is going to swap as usual.

JTMan

dublin-texas wrote: »

(in fact there are loads of banks out there that now offer their products already to people living in other EU countries).

Can you name any European bank that offer retail banking services to Irish customers, other than high wealth customers, that do not have a local presence in Ireland? KeyTrade is the only one I can think of.

I realise that Hello Bank and others are now offering services in multiple European countries but Irish customers have yet to see the benefits of pan European retail banking competition. Maybe SEPA will change this but I am not confident that SEPA will have major competition implications as banks will still restrict account opening to residents of certain countries.

rovoagho

The OP didn't say Irish customers, they said other EU countries. They were suggesting that there's an active intra-EU market already, which makes it likely those banks will target Ireland when SEPA is activated. Our at least that's what I read into it. They were very specific in not mentioning Ireland in their post though.

Yggr of Asgard

rovoagho wrote: »

The OP didn't say Irish customers, they said other EU countries. They were suggesting that there's an active intra-EU market already, which makes it likely those banks will target Ireland when SEPA is activated. Our at least that's what I read into it. They were very specific in not mentioning Ireland in their post though.

That is correct, I'm saying there is loads of intra-EU selling already and I hope/think that once SEPA comes along those banks will also offer services to Irish Residents.

murphaph

Fungus wrote: »

Can you name any European bank that offer retail banking services to Irish customers, other than high wealth customers, that do not have a local presence in Ireland?

DKB does, but you need to speak German. It's just the start. SEPA is going to change things and if it doesn't the EU are working on the next phase which will prohibit banks from favouring local customers. The EU probably has far too many banks anyway.

Keano

Got my account number from PTSB this morning. Had a BOI account for the last 17 years.

Anyone I have told I was moving were like it's just too much hassle, yet they'll moan about their fees Q after Q.

If PTSB do introduce them...I'll simply look for the cheapest option!

howamidifferent

I moved from AIB after 30 years. Have my new PTSB debit card and online24 account. Will close my AIB account on Friday once I'm sure all direct debits and standing orders have been switched successfully. No loyalty, they are just a utility provider now.

rosco p coltrane

FizzleSticks wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Make sure your local branch is not on the chopping board.

rovoagho

The wife's gone to Ulster Bank to draw down our savings accounts for temporary lodgement into our new PTSB current accounts, while our Nationwide savings accounts are set up. I've asked her to tell them that we'd be delighted to return just as soon as they return to free banking.

nice_guy80

i'm in the process of switching from BOI to PTSB


the hump came when I could no longer physically go into the bank and pay off my credit card directly from my current account, when I couldn't access my online banking