ptsb, aib, ulster bank, ebs or kbs, which one?

lisij

hello,
would anyone recommend any of the banks above with lowest fees of owning the account (quarterly charge, withdrawals charges, dd charges etc..), im currently with BOI and fees are slowly killing me.
I do a lot of online banking, have 3-4 dd standing orders, also travel to different countries and use the debit card over there, only one problem with my account, i do not hold money on my account, i always lodge only when i need to spend or pay for something..

DMcL1971

The thread below over on Askaboutmoney.com shows details of the best current accounts on the market.

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=21774

lisij

DMcL1971 wrote: »

The thread below over on Askaboutmoney.com shows details of the best current accounts on the market.

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=21774

thanx a million, that helped a lot, seem's to me i better of stay with boi, as i am not a student

DMcL1971

Either of the first three accounts listed would be better than BOI. With PTSB you get completely free banking provided you lodge 1500 each month. That means all you have to do is lodge 1500 for a day and then remove it. If you don't have 1500, then you can lodge 500, remove it, lodge it again, remove it and lodge it again and you have satisfied the conditions.

lisij

DMcL1971 wrote: »

Either of the first three accounts listed would be better than BOI. With PTSB you get completely free banking provided you lodge 1500 each month. That means all you have to do is lodge 1500 for a day and then remove it. If you don't have 1500, then you can lodge 500, remove it, lodge it again, remove it and lodge it again and you have satisfied the conditions.

oh, didnt thought that way, thnx

lisij

DMcL1971 wrote: »

Either of the first three accounts listed would be better than BOI. With PTSB you get completely free banking provided you lodge 1500 each month. That means all you have to do is lodge 1500 for a day and then remove it. If you don't have 1500, then you can lodge 500, remove it, lodge it again, remove it and lodge it again and you have satisfied the conditions.

ok then, if i would of send money from different account to my ptsb or other BA and then send it back to the sender, make that 3-4 times (if 500eur), will that count as i meet the T&C? come to think of it it should, money received, money gone, money received and so on

lisij

ok, so i narrowed down my search and left with 2 banks, ptsb and ebs. both require 1500 monthly to comply of "free" services, both of them are not in my city, id have to travel if i want a withdrawal or a lodgement, in terms of service, which are better out of those 2? does any of them have an iphone app? can debit cards be used outside the Ireland, and if so in terms of foreign transaction which one is cheaper
thank you all for the answers

DMcL1971

Yes.

The day after I opened the PTSB current account I opened a PTSB saving account called an 'Online Instant Access Account' using their online banking. I Lodged 1500 into this new savings account. Once a month I log into the savings account, move the 1500 to the current account and then the next day I move it back to the savings account. That satisfies the T&C's. The same would work if you moved the amount of 500 back and forward three times. The savings account pays 2% interest and the current account pays 1%. So you are earning interest on the 500 the whole time.

A guy I know doesn't have 1500 or 500 to play with. So, he gets his Mum to transfer 1500 to his bank account once a month and just sends it back the next day.

For you the PTSB account would be much better than the EBS account. The EBS online banking is very limited and they are not great for international transactions and have no phone or tablet apps. Technically they are a building society and not a bank. They only started offering current account services a few years ago, it's not a main focus of their business.

I use the PTSB android app but I assume thy have an iPad version too. Their international debit card charges are the same as BOI. Their online banking and app are both easy to use.

The distance you have to travel to a branch is less of an issue these days, it is a long time since I had to go into a branch. With PTSB I think you can open the account online, with EBS you have to go to the branch.

murphaph

If by chance you are from somewhere else in the SEPA zone that also uses Euro you may be able to use a bank there and not bother with an overcharging Irish bank at all.

Scratch that. I see you need to lodge money physically so you need an Irish bank. Remember if you're paying to travel to lodge money that it might be cheaper to accept the fees charged by a bank you can more easily access.

DMcL1971

murphaph wrote: »

If by chance you are from somewhere else in the SEPA zone that also uses Euro you may be able to use a bank there and not bother with an overcharging Irish bank at all.

That is very true. The only down side at the moment is finding information on foreign bank account offerings. Perhaps in the future Askaboutmoney might create a best buys list for foreign current accounts.

I would certainly be willing to try a foreign bank as I don't think much of what is on offer here in Ireland.

lisij

murphaph wrote: »

If by chance you are from somewhere else in the SEPA zone that also uses Euro you may be able to use a bank there and not bother with an overcharging Irish bank at all.

Scratch that. I see you need to lodge money physically so you need an Irish bank. Remember if you're paying to travel to lodge money that it might be cheaper to accept the fees charged by a bank you can more easily access.

thanx but that is not an option, i would need to pay some bills here in Ireland, and if i had an other counties acc, i could only imagine what the fees would be by paying DD or other instalments, so i better stick with Irish banks

lisij

thank you guys, you made my day, i finally going to move from BOI and their silly charges

DMcL1971

lisij wrote: »

thank you guys, you made my day, i finally going to move from BOI and their silly charges

Here is some practical advice on how to switch. I have switched banks several times in the last few years. So I have seen what commonly goes wrong.

When opening a new current account with PTSB or any current account provider, they offer a switching service. This means they will look after contacting your old bank, switching all your DD's over, transferring your balance and closing the old account for you. Though it sounds like a great service I would strongly advise against using it. I have heard far too many stories from people of how one or two DD's didn't get switched over and payments bounced. Next thing you know you have a new bank account and you don't know which bank account your DD originators are using. Worse still you might miss a mortgage payment or have the credit control department of some service provider chasing you for missed payments. It is far better instead to control all this yourself.

So, to avoid all those hassles, I would recommend you do not use their switching service and instead you do it manually, and it is a lot easier than it sounds.

First, set up the new current account with PTSB. When the account is set up you will receive a letter confirming your new sort code and account number (BIC/IBAN) in around 3 days. A couple of days later you will receive your ATM card and your PIN. Around the same time you will be set up on their online banking and phone app. Your new account is now ready to use.

Second, inform your employer of your new account details so that your salary goes to the new PTSB account.

Third, you want to start transferring you DD’s across to PTSB. Start off by transferring some money into your PTSB account, so that you actually have a balance. You can then sit down and ring each of your DD providers and tell them you want to change your DD details. Now you are probably thinking that that sounds like a pain in the arse, well, surprisingly it’s not. The majority of them do the details change over the phone and send you a confirmation letter in the post the next day. A couple of the more old fashioned ones might insist you sign a new mandate and fax or post it back into them. I did this in work one day during lunch break. In 45 minutes I had all of my 6 DD’s transferred, the vast majority of that 45 minutes was spent waiting in the call queue to get an answer. You could also transfer them one at a time if you like, therefore making doubly sure everything goes the way you want it timing wise. Make sure to leave some money behind in your old BOI account just in case a DD doesn’t transfer correctly or in time. That way you avoid a DD bounce issue.

Fourth, wait for a while until you see the DD’s coming out of the new PTSB account. Once you are happy that everyone is now using your new details and your old BOI account has been sitting there doing nothing for a while, you can just transfer the remaining balance of your BOI account to the PTSB account and tell BOI to close your old account.

Obviously this method is dependent on a few things. You being able to figure out what DD’s are supposed to be coming out of your BOI account, is the first. Second that you actually have enough money to be able to leave a small balance in both the new and old accounts for a couple of weeks while you make sure everything has settled down nicely.

lisij

DMcL1971 wrote: »

Here is some practical advice on how to switch. I have switched banks several times in the last few years. So I have seen what commonly goes wrong.

When opening a new current account with PTSB or any current account provider, they offer a switching service. This means they will look after contacting your old bank, switching all your DD's over, transferring your balance and closing the old account for you. Though it sounds like a great service I would strongly advise against using it. I have heard far too many stories from people of how one or two DD's didn't get switched over and payments bounced. Next thing you know you have a new bank account and you don't know which bank account your DD originators are using. Worse still you might miss a mortgage payment or have the credit control department of some service provider chasing you for missed payments. It is far better instead to control all this yourself.

So, to avoid all those hassles, I would recommend you do not use their switching service and instead you do it manually, and it is a lot easier than it sounds.

First, set up the new current account with PTSB. When the account is set up you will receive a letter confirming your new sort code and account number (BIC/IBAN) in around 3 days. A couple of days later you will receive your ATM card and your PIN. Around the same time you will be set up on their online banking and phone app. Your new account is now ready to use.

Second, inform your employer of your new account details so that your salary goes to the new PTSB account.

Third, you want to start transferring you DD’s across to PTSB. Start off by transferring some money into your PTSB account, so that you actually have a balance. You can then sit down and ring each of your DD providers and tell them you want to change your DD details. Now you are probably thinking that that sounds like a pain in the arse, well, surprisingly it’s not. The majority of them do the details change over the phone and send you a confirmation letter in the post the next day. A couple of the more old fashioned ones might insist you sign a new mandate and fax or post it back into them. I did this in work one day during lunch break. In 45 minutes I had all of my 6 DD’s transferred, the vast majority of that 45 minutes was spent waiting in the call queue to get an answer. You could also transfer them one at a time if you like, therefore making doubly sure everything goes the way you want it timing wise. Make sure to leave some money behind in your old BOI account just in case a DD doesn’t transfer correctly or in time. That way you avoid a DD bounce issue.

Fourth, wait for a while until you see the DD’s coming out of the new PTSB account. Once you are happy that everyone is now using your new details and your old BOI account has been sitting there doing nothing for a while, you can just transfer the remaining balance of your BOI account to the PTSB account and tell BOI to close your old account.

Obviously this method is dependent on a few things. You being able to figure out what DD’s are supposed to be coming out of your BOI account, is the first. Second that you actually have enough money to be able to leave a small balance in both the new and old accounts for a couple of weeks while you make sure everything has settled down nicely.

:eek::rolleyes: thanx a million for the tips, i have no hassle by doing it all myself, it makes me 100% sure ive done it right and if something goes wrong ill blame myself instead of hanging on the line to talk with customer service with no luck

murphaph

lisij wrote: »

thanx but that is not an option, i would need to pay some bills here in Ireland, and if i had an other counties acc, i could only imagine what the fees would be by paying DD or other instalments, so i better stick with Irish banks

I pay Irish direct debits from a German account and pay no charges whatsoever. The only expensive thing is lodging foreign (Irish) cheques because they're not covered by SEPA regulations at all. But you need physical access to lodge cash anyway so a non Irish bank is no use to you.