KBC exiting Ireland

Jim2007 · 29-05-2021 7:17pm

Rock Steady Edy wrote: »

This review has completely put me off ever opening a digitised non-Irish based bank account. I would even rather pay something towards the cost of an Irish bank account than potentially have this hassle.

This can happen with any bank and as all banks become more digitized and the cost cutting goes on the differences will reduce.

But there are things you can do to reduce the chance of this happening:
- Always responded to ID requests promptly with the requested documents
- Inform the bank of expecting unusual transactions
- Make sure that people paying you have all your payment details not just the IBAN number

I can’t emphasize this last point enough because banks often use these additional fields to flag up transactions for review. For example, if you are commonly known as John Smith, but the account name is John K. Smith make sure the payer knows this.

The J Stands for Jay · 14-06-2021 1:37pm

KBC have just sent out an email saying they're adding push notifications for payments to their app.

bonjurkes · 14-06-2021 1:41pm

That's great news, they can send a push notification to their customers before they are closing their doors officially

KBC Bank - 5 minutes ago
Bye lads!

unkel · 14-06-2021 1:57pm

LOL yeah same here. KBC just rang to confirm my account is now officially closed. Adios!

N26 is my current account now...

feelings · 14-06-2021 1:58pm

Strange one alright. Presume it was in the pipeline but would have thought they'd haved killed any future updates.

The thoughts of moving banks again. *sigh*

Yyhhuuu · 14-06-2021 8:14pm

unkel wrote: »

LOL yeah same here. KBC just rang to confirm my account is now officially closed. Adios!

N26 is my current account now...

Please update us as to how you find N26.

unkel · 14-06-2021 10:51pm

Yyhhuuu wrote: »

Please update us as to how you find N26.

I've had N26 for years, just didn't use it much. They have a full EU banking license and your balance is covered by the German government €100k deposit guarantee. Unlike Revolut.

What else can I say? It's an online bank account, it's free with free ATM withdrawals. They have no branches. I've moved all my direct debits to them, without issue. They have an app for your phone.

I'm still keeping Revolut as it's the cheapest way to make payments in foreign currencies and it's a generally quite well accepted way of making and receiving instant payments to and from other people

Quazzie · 17-06-2021 8:55pm

unkel wrote: »

.

I'm still keeping Revolut as it's the cheapest way to make payments in foreign currencies

How accurate is this?

Me and my sister both purchased a product on Amazon and I paid with Revolut and she used her PTSB bank card. A quick check and she paid about 2% less when converted to euro.

unkel · 17-06-2021 10:27pm

Quazzie wrote: »

How accurate is this?

Me and my sister both purchased a product on Amazon and I paid with Revolut and she used her PTSB bank card. A quick check and she paid about 2% less when converted to euro.

Was that at a weekend? Revolut charges the interbank rate, which is the cheapest possible rate. No main bank offers this. But at weekends they charge a premium.

And I presume you both paid in GBP? If you pay in EUR then Amazon takes the FX rate difference

Quazzie · 17-06-2021 11:03pm

unkel wrote: »

Was that at a weekend? Revolut charges the interbank rate, which is the cheapest possible rate. No main bank offers this. But at weekends they charge a premium.

And I presume you both paid in GBP? If you pay in EUR then Amazon takes the FX rate difference

Wednesday 9th June. Both bought the same product. Both prime members. Both paid in Sterling allowing our respective banks make handle the currency exchange. I was always of the belief like the claims that Revolut was cheaper and definitely when compared to my own AIB card on any time I've tested it, it was. Maybe PTSB have a better rate though

The J Stands for Jay · 17-06-2021 11:43pm

Quazzie wrote: »

Wednesday 9th June. Both bought the same product. Both prime members. Both paid in Sterling allowing our respective banks make handle the currency exchange. I was always of the belief like the claims that Revolut was cheaper and definitely when compared to my own AIB card on any time I've tested it, it was. Maybe PTSB have a better rate though

I wonder is it because PTSB show their charge as a separate item on your statement?

unkel · 17-06-2021 11:45pm

McGaggs wrote: »

I wonder is it because PTSB show their charge as a separate item on your statement?

That's what KBC do too. And it might not show up on your statement until a week later or sometimes more. Must be the explanation here. The interbank rate is the rate at which banks buy and sell FX to each other (hence the name). This is the cheapest possible rate they could charge

It's either that or one of the two transactions has somehow gone wrong. Banks do make mistakes

Quazzie · 18-06-2021 9:32pm

McGaggs wrote: »

I wonder is it because PTSB show their charge as a separate item on your statement?

That actually makes perfect sense.

Sam W · 18-06-2021 11:42pm

This is how it will show up in PTSB account for foreign transactions. The FX fee doesn’t show up until a few days later.

Bob24 · 19-06-2021 10:48am

McGaggs wrote: »

I wonder is it because PTSB show their charge as a separate item on your statement?

Yes, and also PTSB (like most banks) are waiting for the transaction to be settled before they apply the fee (because both the transaction amount and the fee amount could change before the actual transaction settlement). It usually takes a few days but it could be weeks if the vendor decides to keep in on hold.

Fintechs like N26 and Revolut chose to display the transaction immediately as people like to get instant notifications and immediate reflection on their mobile App. But it means they are actually showing provisional amounts which might need to be corrected if the final settlement is for a different amount or if the transaction is never settled.

adox · 26-06-2021 10:20am

Started getting push notifications for transactions yesterday.

Bob24 · 26-06-2021 11:06am

adox wrote: »

Started getting push notifications for transactions yesterday.

Started about 2 weeks ago for me. But it is only for SEPA transactions (not for card transactions).

pm1977x · 26-06-2021 12:20pm

I presume there's no pitfalls to going on to another fixed term with KBC for my mortgage, current term is nearly up - it will just be taken over by BOI or whoever when the time comes?

The J Stands for Jay · 26-06-2021 1:05pm

Bob24 wrote: »

Started about 2 weeks ago for me. But it is only for SEPA transactions (not for card transactions).

I hope it means they stop sending me letters everyone I transfer to/from my savings account. But it's a bit poor that it doesn't include card transactions.

rodge123 · 26-06-2021 1:30pm

pm1977x wrote: »

I presume there's no pitfalls to going on to another fixed term with KBC for my mortgage, current term is nearly up - it will just be taken over by BOI or whoever when the time comes?

Only possible issue is will BOI honor the 0.2% discount given for having a KBC current account.

Bob24 · 26-06-2021 1:52pm

The J Stands for Jay wrote: »

I hope it means they stop sending me letters everyone I transfer to/from my savings account. But it's a bit poor that it doesn't include card transactions.

I actually received one of those letters last week, so no luck with this :-/ … and fully agree I also don’t get why they are doing that!

I am not sure how it is supposed to work, but from what I can tell to date the notifications from the App only cover current accounts.

Evil_g · 26-06-2021 6:48pm

Does anyone know whether I'll be able to check my mortgage balance online, or through the app, with BOI?

Y'know, as though we were in the 21st century.

rodge123 · 26-06-2021 7:16pm

Evil_g wrote: »

Does anyone know whether I'll be able to check my mortgage balance online, or through the app, with BOI?

Y'know, as though we were in the 21st century.

Nearly sure I could see my balance on the BOI app before I left them for KBC. They obviously purchased KBC to get me back!

pm1977x · 26-06-2021 7:36pm

rodge123 wrote: »

Only possible issue is will BOI honor the 0.2% discount given for having a KBC current account.

Ah yes, good point, thanks for the reply.

youcancallmeal · 27-06-2021 9:28am

Evil_g wrote: »

Does anyone know whether I'll be able to check my mortgage balance online, or through the app, with BOI?

Y'know, as though we were in the 21st century.

I would hope so but have my doubts. I still have credit card accounts I closed years ago showing up on my boi365 app. I asked for them to be removed a while back but they said it wasn't possible

The J Stands for Jay · 27-06-2021 12:17pm

youcancallmeal wrote: »

I would hope so but have my doubts. I still have credit card accounts I closed years ago showing up on my boi365 app. I asked for them to be removed a while back but they said it wasn't possible

I've seen threads on here saying that BoI struggle to show accurate current account balances on their app....

Sheep Shagger · 27-06-2021 12:18pm

The J Stands for Jay wrote: »

I've seen threads on here saying that BoI struggle to show accurate current account balances on their app....

Duplicated transactions used to be common enough in the app....

Bob24 · 28-06-2021 3:11pm

I know there is no reason for KBC and BOI to share any information before they have reached a final deal, but when do people reckon we will know more about the impact for customers and what the story is in terms mortgage and current/savings accounts (will mortgage bonus rates be retained, what happens to KBC savings account, are current accounts being migrated to BOI with standard BOI terms or is there a specific treatment for migrated accounts, etc)..

Sheep Shagger · 28-06-2021 4:47pm

Bob24 wrote: »

I know there is no reason for KBC and BOI to share any information before they have reached a final deal, but when do people reckon we will know more about the impact for customers and what the story is in terms mortgage and current/savings accounts (will mortgage bonus rates be retained, what happens to KBC savings account, are current accounts being migrated to BOI with standard BOI terms or is there a specific treatment for migrated accounts, etc)..

Existing rates etc have to be honoured as you have a contract with UB, no sale can remove those without your consent.

When they annoince a deal it will be subject to competition and regulatory approval which takes time.

When that is through it is likely to be BAU for a while whilst they work through the logistics and operational plan of the actual migration.

Sam W · 28-06-2021 5:00pm

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Existing rates etc have to be honoured as you have a contract with UB, no sale can remove those without your consent.

When they annoince a deal it will be subject to competition and regulatory approval which takes time.

When that is through it is likely to be BAU for a while whilst they work through the logistics and operational plan of the actual migration.

Base rate and discount are two different things. They may need to honour the APR rate but they don't have to provide extra 0.2% discount for being a KBC current account customer.

Bob24 · 28-06-2021 5:08pm

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Existing rates etc have to be honoured as you have a contract with UB, no sale can remove those without your consent.

When they annoince a deal it will be subject to competition and regulatory approval which takes time.

When that is through it is likely to be BAU for a while whilst they work through the logistics and operational plan of the actual migration.

This was discussed before, but I wouldn’t take it for granted that the 0.2% bonus rate will follow the mortgage. The T&Cs clearly specify that mortgage payments have to come from a KBC Ireland account for the bonus rate to remain active, and technically there will not be such thing as KBC Ireland accounts anymore.

And yes sure it will be another while before we know the actual practical impact on customers - that was my question though, what kind of timeline people reckon we are looking at before the details are made available?

irishgeo · 05-07-2021 9:14pm

gutted i have to move from KBC, i signed up with N26 already but wont be moving yet, the promo for the free year of the you account and the free card was too good to turn down.

Yyhhuuu · 07-07-2021 2:27am

irishgeo wrote: »

gutted i have to move from KBC, i signed up with N26 already but wont be moving yet, the promo for the free year of the you account and the free card was too good to turn down.

Is there any benefit to having the n26you business as opposed to ordinary n26you.

I now realise how great the kbc app is.
Their phone staff were also great.

Yggr of Asgard · 27-07-2021 9:22am

I guess the end is nearly here.

With the latest App Update the ability to apply for new products (Bank/Borrow/Save) has been removed.

Instead, first a notice "Important Customer Notice" with the usual information is displayed and then once you click on "I understand" you will be shown a "To complete a lending application, please call us".

Time to move on I think.

Davexirl · 27-07-2021 3:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117666827#Comment_117666827

Time to start thinking which Bank to move to. PTSB's account looks the best out of all the Irish Bank's.

The J Stands for Jay · 27-07-2021 9:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117668950#Comment_117668950

That's a pretty sad reflection on Irish banks if that's true. I remember getting a current account with them when they offered 10% interest, and ended up sticking with them, but hating every interaction I had with them. There's no way in hell I'll go back.

Davexirl · 27-07-2021 9:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117670615#Comment_117670615

That bad? I was just looking at the overall current account charges for them all. EBS is free but their online banking is meant to be rubbish.

Yggr of Asgard · 27-07-2021 10:52pm

There is not much left if you require a "full" service bank account with an irish IBAN.

AIB, Bank of Ireland, PTSB, EBS (to a limited extend) and a Credit union that hosts a currentaccount.ie service.

Beside that only N26/bunq offer most services that a current account/card service requires but that means sometimes significant drawbacks. Like bunq only allows 250€ ATM per day or N26 still suffering from the IBAN discrimination (plus the risk to bank with an organization that is under special supervision of the German Banking Regulator).

I liked KBC as it was free, had relatively good payment processing times and a nice app (especially now with the payment alerts) but in the end, its hard to penetrate the change resistant market that Ireland is in which government owned, or part owned banks control the market and most people don't like to switch their providers for anything.

Sam W · 27-07-2021 11:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117671058#Comment_117671058

Just to note that the free version of bunq has been discontinued.

Sam W · 27-07-2021 11:41pm

With my EBS current account being 'approved', I now have (or previously had) a current account with every single major provider in Ireland.

AIB:

Pros: decent app; decent online banking; best and fastest telephone customer services; usually fast to integrate with new technologies (e.g. the second to adopt Apple Pay in Ireland, only a bit slower than KBC).
Cons: not free (unless you also have a mortgage with them).

BOI:

Pros: friendly customer services (if that counts).
Cons: app & online banking used to be absolutely sh**; not free; way too many glitches in their payment systems.

PTSB:

Pros: They used to have free banking as long as you keep a minimum balance; app used to be crap but much better now; their system is the only one that I didn't have to contact previously due to glitches/bugs/issues.
Cons: no longer offering free banking to new customers; the new explore account is of no good unless you shop at the specified grocery shops at a regular basis.

EBS:

Pros: completely free; telephone customer service is quick to answer.
Cons: the online banking system still seems to be in 1980s; have to wait for a day before you can send money to a new payee; no mobile banking.

N26:

Pros: have a free version; nice app with new technologies; free currency exchange for online shopping.
Cons: customer service is an absolute disaster (and I used to have the most expensive Metal account with them); very very very slow to investigate account & payment issues; no physical branches; many catches with the free version that you need to look out for.

KBC:

Pros: free banking with monthly lodgement; great app; always the first to embrace new technologies;
Cons: In-app verification & payment process is no longer the best now (very minor issue); no way to lodge cash.

Bunq:

Pros: used to have a free version that comes with a credit card; free currency exchange for online shopping.
Cons: the free version has been discontinued, and the paid version is no better than N26; no physical branches.

PommieBast · 28-07-2021 12:30am

Between AIB/BoI/PTSB I consider AIB the least irritating. BoI forces you to install their app which I think is not well written, and PTSB insists on multiple SMS one-time codes in a single online session.

Slutmonkey57b · 28-07-2021 1:14am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117671266#Comment_117671266

You will be glad to hear that following a massive investment and development programme BOI's new app and online banking are significantly worse, slower, and less capable than the old ones.

Bob24 · 29-07-2021 12:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117671387#Comment_117671387

Agree, but for people who don't have any way to get free banking theirs fees are really not reasonable.

Plus for people who regularly make bank transfers to non-Irish IBANS their service is not great. Unless this changed since I left them for KBC, you can't do SEPA transfers to non Irish accounts with the App and the process to do it on the website is rather painful, and also I believe they don't support standing orders to non-Irish IBANs either.

L1011 · 29-07-2021 12:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117671457#Comment_117671457

The trade off for the experience being a billion time worse is they now have same day (during working hours anyway, and possibly with a cutoff) transfers out to other ROI banks finally. Starting to get a bit like the experience I had using RBS in GB 15 years ago!

Sam W · 29-07-2021 4:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117677959#Comment_117677959

I have non Irish IBAN transfers in PTSB, AIB, KBC. I don’t see any issue with any of the banks.

AIB has a different setup for non-Irish IBANs (which doesn’t really make sense), but ultimately you should be able to set it up. On the plus side, AIB allows a maximum of 10k euro to be transferred every 24 hours (as opposed to 5k euro in PTSB & KBC).

Bob24 · 29-07-2021 6:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117679340#Comment_117679340

Just to clarify - unless it has changed since I left them, the problems with AIB are that:

1) you cannot save non-Irish IBANs in your list of beneficiaries

2) you can not issue SEPA transfers to non-Irish IBANs from the mobile App which would be a pain for most people

3) the UI to issue transfers from the website does work, but it takes much longer to issue the transfer than with any other banks I have used. First you log-into the website using 2FA with your phone, then you setup the transfer details BUT your beneficiary can't be saved in your favourites list for next time (as opposed to Irish IBANs), then you do another layer of 2FA which requires inputing codes back and forth from between the website and their code generation and also requires to have your debit card handy to generate the codes.

4) to be double-checked, but as far as I remember standing orders (as opposed to credit transfers) can only established for Irish IBANs

KBC doesn't treat IBANs differently regardless of being Irish or not and doesn't have any of the above restrictions/complications. i.e. no issue with foreign standing orders and it is literally 10 times faster issue a credit transfer to an non-Irish IBAN as it works on the mobile only with face/fingerprint authentication, can save beneficiaries, and doesn't require all the code confirmation steps which AIB does.

Dempo1 · 20-08-2021 12:11pm

Slightly connected,

I've been with KBC since the very start, couldn't fault them in fairness.

This morning however, recieved a peculiar letter to do with what's called a periodic review, required under the criminal justice act obliging kbc to hold sufficient information on identification documents on its customers.

I've never had such a request for information, they are looking for occupation, am I self employed, source of funds. No mention of ID which is strange also.

I'm not sure if this is normal, I recall my credit union asking for updated photo ID but never KBC.

The only income lodged is salary, had a house insurance claim well over a year ago, sold a few bits of equipment less than 2k over a month ago.

Just wondered is this a common request, what would have triggered this, last time I checked I'm not a master criminal 🙄 I'm more surprised given KBC winding down.

Any thoughts appreciated.

AlmightyCushion · 20-08-2021 12:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117779973#Comment_117779973

I got one of those earlier this year. I haven't had any big transactions or deposits that would have triggered it so I assume it is something they do every so often. I filled it out and sent them a picture of it and never heard anything else about it so I assume it's grand. I'll let you know if CAB kick down my door and raid the place. 😂

Dempo1 · 20-08-2021 12:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117780024#Comment_117780024

LOL, thanks for response, I just found it odd, especially no ID requested, the only thing i can think of is a 2k lodgement about a month ago, sold some items etc, but 2k would hardily have Cab calling to my humble cottage 😁

I've actually nothing else with KBC, just one current account and it's balance hardily anything to excite anyone (Honestly 😉)

Jim2007 · 20-08-2021 12:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117780024#Comment_117780024

It does not have to be a big transaction, it can be as little as five Euro. There are may different sets of rules that can trigger this. A large transaction, a sequence of small transactions, a particular type of transaction, the recipient status etc... And CAB are not the first step. The first thing you will discover is that your accounts will have been frozen at that bank, next all banks.

KBC exiting Ireland

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