Current Account Switch - A Warning

techdiver

Bit of a rant, but bear with me!

So I have completed the switch from Bank of Ireland to KBC for my current account and it couldn't have been more of a pain in the ass.

The official line by all banks is that the switch over will be seamless (in much the same way as switching utility companies), but nothing could be further from the truth.

For starters they initiate the change over by contacting the old bank who then proceed to notify all creditors with existing direct debit mandates that the accounts are switching. Bank of Ireland then cancel all active direct debits and optionally close the account (if this option is chosen). You would think that is the end of your involvement, but no it's not. As the days pass you notice missed direct debits that should be processed. All of which you then have to chase up yourself. It turns out to most of the companies will not process the switchover promptly and in many cases just ignoring and keep trying to process the payment from the closed account even though they have been notified otherwise. Each of them require a new direct debit mandate form to completed and posted in to process the change, which really negates the whole point of completing a switch form between banks. They might as well just tell you to close one account open the other and contact each company yourself, which is what I have pretty much had to do.

Not only that, but I have paid my mortgage with PTSB separately using my debit card this month and was told that even though I am doing this and notifying them of the switchover and despite the fact that bank of ireland have written to them notifying them of the new direct debit details they will require a new form to be signed and submitted and to top it all off, even though I paid for this month separately, PTSB will dumbly try to hit the old account for an unauthorised payment this month again anyway. Who designs these systems???

The long and the short of it, is only for I have been babysitting this whole process from start to finish it would be a complete and utter disaster.

Rant over.

NoNamesWork

I switched current account to KBC a few years back and it was "seamless", had expected it to be a messy process but it really wasn't, direct debits, mortgage payments etc all moved over no hassle.

Sesame

I had the same experience switching from AIB to Ulster a couple of years ago.

I was under the impression (or told!), just tell my employer the new account details and all standing orders and DDs will be taken care of.

They were not at all. I had to do literally everything including apologising to people getting paid late.

I had, wisely, kept a certain amount in my old account to cover anything missed. Glad I had and I would recommend other do this too to cover the changeover period. Any amounts due to come out, if its not set up on the new account in time, can come from the old one and it will help avoid any penalties.

I don't know which bank was at fault but I can say I'm delighted with the service from Ulster Bank since. Super friendly and professional and it may have been a bad first impression but the right move.

Nermal

Until some sort of IBAN portability is introduced we'll never have that much competition in current accounts.

Should have been introduced with SEPA, but was judged to be too costly at the time.

Possibly will be reviewed in the near future?

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=P-2016-000793&language=EN