Irish Banks, which one to choose?

Milex

Hello,

I am currently with Ulster Bank (RoI). As Ulster seams to be very slow with rolling out new features, other banks in Europe and even other Irish banks have for years, I am thinking about switching.

The Question is to what bank?

Bank of Ireland and AIB are a no go, I just checked fees and charges, and they charge me every time I use my Debit Card, hello?
Ulster and permanent tsb do not charge for every single transaction, just as I am used to from Germany.
Also the permanent tsb account is free of maintenance changes as long as I have 1500€ coming in monthly.

Also permanent tsb has conactless payments, which is the main reason to switch.
The online banking cannot be worse than the online banking from ulster bank.

Is there anything negative you know about permanent tsb? Hidden charges or something like that?

Also, the information on the permanent tsb website is poor, and I don't really see a full list of charges, like I was able to find on every other Irish Banks website.
What does this 20 PoS transactions per day mean? The limit is in thair FAQ, but what happens when I hit this limit? Do I get charged, or am I simply not able to use my Debit Card anymore that day?

Are there actually charges per transaction like with BoI or AIB? Ulster states in a .pdf that there are no charges, and I can confirm as I am using Ulster for the last 5 years.

As I don't really like phone support, I am looking for documents, email or chat support. Permanent tsb only offers phone, poor documents and well, customer service in the branch.

So guess what, I went to the branch in Cork Patrick Street, the 20 PoS is clearly stated on their website, but the women working at the customer service counter told me that she never heard of this limitation and said there is non.
As I couldn't find a table for charges I asked her about that as well, she said, no charges when I use my debit card.
As you might imagine, I won't take her word for it.
As for the 20 transactions, I guess most days I can get along with 3 to 5 transactions a day, but I still like to know about this limitation, so I can deal with it, in case I hit this limit one day for some reason.

"Yes I pay everything with card, my coffee for 1.80€, or even a mars bar for 1€ etc. digital payments, is the way to go, that's why I want contactless so badly, for all the small transactions, and this is also why the charges per transaction are so important."

In short, do you guys know the fees and charges from permanent tsb? Debit Card, Contactless and other transactions.
Also any good or bad experiences?

Yggr of Asgard

AIB

Milex wrote: »

just as I am used to from Germany.

If you are German I recommend to check out DKB in Germany, which are opening their free accounts for Germans living outside Germany. With SEPA you might not need an Irish account.

Milex

Thanks, but my employer only pays into Irish bank accounts, so that's not an option.

PrimeOptimus

The 20 transactions is a card limitation, you won't get charged for exceeding the 20 because you can't actually do more than 20, and you can't exceed €2,500 per day either, the card just gets declined! Same with cash back it is maxed at 3 times daily (has a monetary limit too of €100 I think) and then ATM's have €700 limit per day.
I thought all banks had similar limits but I could be wrong!

Yggr of Asgard

AIB

PrimeOptimus wrote: »

The 20 transactions is a card limitation, you won't get charged for exceeding the 20 because you can't actually do more than 20, and you can't exceed €2,500 per day either, the card just gets declined! Same with cash back it is maxed at 3 times daily (has a monetary limit too of €100 I think) and then ATM's have €700 limit per day.
I thought all banks had similar limits but I could be wrong!

On certain PTSB ATM's (mostly in the branch self serve area) you can get up to 1500€.

PrimeOptimus

Yes the Self Service machines in the branches let you take €1,500, but not external ATMs they are €700..

Milex

Hey, thanks for your answers so far, at least I know something about the 20 PoS now.
I cannot find such a limitation on my Ulster Card, but as I said, 20 PoS transactions a day should be plenty anyway.

Still not sure about switching, mostly related to laziness.
Also, I somehow like Bank of Ireland, there is only a 1cent transaction fee, and I would guess that this last cent will disappear as well.
I compared the Mobile banking apps, BoI lets you make international payments with the app. Couldn't find that on the pictures for the PTSB app and Ulster Bank is a joke when it comes to international banking anyway.

PrimeOptimus

UB website says they may apply a limit to the value and amount of card transactions but it doesn't specify what that is. I think it's a security thing all the banks have for in the event of fraud they can limit the damage somehow.

I don't think you can complete international transfers on the app I think it's just desktop

Nervous Wreck

AIB

You can do international transfers on the ptsb app. You have to set them up on desktop first though.

Milex

Sounds great, setting it up one desktop once is fair enough as long as I can then go ahead and do the international transaction on the phone app.

Does anyone know if international standing order are possible with ptsb? Its fine so setup on desktop, it'll be "fire and forget" anyway.

curiosity

Milex wrote: »

Bank of Ireland and AIB are a no go, I just checked fees and charges, and they charge me every time I use my Debit Card, hello?

AIB offer free banking if you maintain a minimum daily balance of €2,500 (rf page 8 of the following).

http://personal.aib.ie/content/dam/aib/personal/docs/fees-and-charges/a-guide-to-fees-and-charges-for-personal-accounts.pdf

BOI do the same, albeit with a €3,000 minimum, and a €5/quarter maintenance fee (rf page 7).

https://personalbanking.bankofireland.com/fs/doc/wysiwyg/omi000130-fees-and-charges-personal-digital.pdf

Milex

Yeah I have read that, but that will just remove the maintenance fee, not the transaction fees.

Also, I always have a savings account, therefore I remove most of my money from my current account, I won't maintain 2500/3000€ on it.
I have plenty on my savings account, that's how I budget myself, but that's no help regarding the maintenance fees.

I like the permanent tsb deal better, login in 1500€ each month, that's easily covered by my salary, and therefore nothing I have to think about, ever.


In another thread someone wrote contactless payments will come to Ulster before the end of 2015.
The question now is, it it true, and is it still worth to switch over to permanent tsb.

lulzordan

Milex wrote: »

Is there anything negative you know about permanent tsb? Hidden charges or something like that?

I've had a current account with them for the last year or a bit more and I've never been charged for anything other than FX exchange (paying something in USD/GBP and paying for their convertion to EUR) and for extracting money outside an IE bank. These charges are listed in their T&C's so you can know the % you would be paying.

Also the lack of branches in some places is a bit saddening but I've only had to go to one like twice since the beginning.

Their online banking was ****e until a few months ago when they updated and now it's pretty decent.

To be honest I'm pretty happy because of the free banking I get on a day to day basis without having to keep a minimum balance on the account.

Milex

Thank you lulzordan, this was most helpful!

lulzordan

Milex wrote: »

Thank you lulzordan, this was most helpful!

No worries, you can also compare current accounts here: http://www.bonkers.ie/compare-current-accounts/ and if you click on the see detail option you'll get a nicer view of their fees than what some of the banks show on their own site

curiosity

Milex wrote: »

Yeah I have read that, but that will just remove the maintenance fee, not the transaction fees.

Also, I always have a savings account, therefore I remove most of my money from my current account, I won't maintain 2500/3000€ on it.
I have plenty on my savings account, that's how I budget myself, but that's no help regarding the maintenance fees.

I like the permanent tsb deal better, login in 1500€ each month, that's easily covered by my salary, and therefore nothing I have to think about, ever.

As an AIB customer, I've paid zero fees for the last two years (as shown in pic) I reason that keeping €2,500 in a savings account would earn me less than the current account fees I would incur. But if I was changing bank, PTSB would be a top option.:)

Delta2113

AIB

PTSB is a no brainer.

368100

Milex wrote: »

Thanks, but my employer only pays into Irish bank accounts, so that's not an option.

Your employer can pay into a German account as easily as an Irish account due to SEPA

Milex

True, but my employer won't do it, I already asked, so that's a no go, even though it would be just as easy.

homer911

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

You can do international transfers on the ptsb app. You have to set them up on desktop first though.

Cool, that must be new, had to go into the Branch to get International payees set up on your account previously

homer911

PTSB also do Mobile Money, which is great for paying your friends when splitting a bill etc.

If you think you need an overdraft, PTSB dont charge for setting this up, they only charge when you first draw down on the facility.

PrimeOptimus

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

You can do international transfers on the ptsb app. You have to set them up on desktop first though.

You can do SEPA transfers from the app alright if this is what you mean by international, to anywhere outside EU though you have to be set up in branch and then you can transfer from Desktop, but no option on app!

I'm not sure if OP meant outside EU when saying international or not. Transferring within EU on app is fine via SEPA!

Milex

I meant EU with "International" so SEPA payments work fine for me.

ScottSF

Bank of Ireland

Milex wrote: »

Yeah I have read that, but that will just remove the maintenance fee, not the transaction fees.

To further clear up any confusion or misstatement, ...
AIB charges zero maintenance and zero transaction fees if you maintain the 2500 average monthly balance.

Personal current account customers can qualify for maintenance and transaction free banking by meeting the following criteria:
Qualifying Criteria:
Maintain a minimum daily credit statement balance of €2,500 in the account for each fee quarter.*


Yes I know not everybody wants to keep that much in their Current Account, but that is the requirement. I have never paid fees other than the standard Stamp Duty and Credit/Debit card fixed annual fees that are stated.

For Savings, AIB has what's called an "Online Saver" account which earns 2% on an increasing monthly balance, via automated transfers from Current account.
http://personal.aib.ie/our-products/savings-and-deposits/online-saver

For me the biggest missing feature with AIB Online Banking is their lack of email transaction alerts. This is a no-brainer. I want to get an email for every bank and credit/debit card transaction. They also do not offer secure email customer support which I would prefer over calling them by phone.

368100

wrote:

For me the biggest missing feature with AIB Online Banking is their lack of email transaction alerts. This is a no-brainer. I want to get an email for every bank and credit/debit card transaction. They also do not offer secure email customer support which I would prefer over calling them by phone.

Why would you want an email notification for each and every transaction through your account??

ScottSF

Bank of Ireland

368100 wrote: »

Why would you want an email notification for each and every transaction through your account??

Good Question. Here are the many reasons, some of which should be helpful to anyone.

• For budgeting and tracking your spending on a daily/weekly basis
• To catch fraudulent usage as quickly as possible (my AIB Visa was used fraudulently last year and fortunately they called me to verify suspicious activity and to cancel and send out new cards, but what if they don't detect right away or if I'm not home or reachable by phone)
• For when traveling to make sure ATM withdrawals and spending in a foreign country is accurate including currency conversion and fees. Also for those hidden car hire fees upon hire and return.
• For frequent online shoppers, to know when your credit card is actually charged like when a product ships - for accuracy, to catch fraud, to make sure not double charged, to know when a refund is processed, etc...
• To be notified when other cardholders on same account are spending money (wife, husband, kids)
• For recurring expenses and auto-pay bills so you know the exact amount charged (e.g. Netflix, electricity bill)
• When you are expecting an electronic deposit like for a paycheck or incoming payment/transfer from outside of Ireland
• When you don't want to login to your bank due to security concerns (like at a hotel or internet cafe), email alerts can keep you informed.

Hope this list helps convince AIB and the other Irish banks to add this feature.

Flatzie_poo

PTSB customer here!

Never have any issues with their products really.

One small gripe is how long cheques take to clear (it's about 5 working days unlike AIB which I think is 1 day.) But who the hell still uses cheques nowadays!

Other than this it's a really good bank.

I'd act fast if you are, in the Indo yesterday, it said they will be introducing fees for all new customers in a few months.

All the best in your search.

Nervous Wreck

AIB

I think AIB is 3 working days (but I haven't used cheques in years so that could be different now).

Lisa78

I was thinking of changing current accounts from AIB because of their fees, and was thinking of PTSB as well.
One thing I wanted to check - maybe someone here knows - if I transfer money from one PTSB account to another (e.g. mine to my husband's), would it be accessible immediately in his account. I know it is with AIB and it has been really handy a couple of times, so just wondering if this is the same with all banks.
Thanks

Pacifico

AIB

Lisa78 wrote: »

I was thinking of changing current accounts from AIB because of their fees, and was thinking of PTSB as well.
One thing I wanted to check - maybe someone here knows - if I transfer money from one PTSB account to another (e.g. mine to my husband's), would it be accessible immediately in his account. I know it is with AIB and it has been really handy a couple of times, so just wondering if this is the same with all banks.
Thanks

Yes it's instant from one PTSB account to another

Lisa78

Pacifico wrote: »

Yes it's instant from one PTSB account to another

That's great, thanks a million Pacifico for replying. They have a rep on site at our work today so going to head over and see what they say! Thanks again.