With KBC leaving, is it a bad decision to switch to them?

colly10 · 12-11-2021 2:13pm #1

I heard BOI have bought KBC.

I'm currently with AIB but they've removed the daily balance from online banking when viewing the list of transactions. I'm really annoyed by this and makes their online banking far less useful to me than it was.

I'm thinking of switching to KBC cause I heard they have good online banking, i'm worried that switching to them might not be a good idea though, particularly cause BOI bought them who I think are a shambles

12-11-2021 2:17pm

Bank of Ireland haven't bought KBC but they have taken over or have agreed to acquire KBC's loan book and deposits here in Ireland.

Personally I wouldn't advise switching to a bank that is pulling out of the market in the near future.

Although it is not a free option and there is a small monthly cost perhaps you could look into a credit union account?

I have a credit union account for savings and find their app quite good and you have the reassurance of knowing that they are not going to pull out of the market anytime.

Tandey · 12-11-2021 2:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118155894#Comment_118155894

Do they support apple pay etc?

12-11-2021 11:03pm

Sorry for the delay, yes at least my local branch does I assume if your local branch offers a current account they will use the same system.

https://firstchoicecreditunion.ie/current-account/

JTMan · 13-11-2021 9:56am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058217630/with-kbc-leaving-is-it-a-bad-decision-to-switch-to-them

Switching to KBC for a current account makes no sense right now.

Sounds like you have out-ruled AIB and BoI too.

So you options are EBS, PTSB, An Post, CurrentAccount.ie (CU), Bunq, N26 or Revolut.

EBS will give you a free account but very limited service offering.

Currentaccount.ie, An Post and Bunq are not cheap.

PTSB will give you a current account for a euro a month provided you use your debit card at least 50 times per month.

N26 and Revolut are worth considering too but obviously there is no local branch nor cash service if these things matter to you.

13-11-2021 8:39pm

Also something to note if you decide to go down either the revolute or n26 route is Irish companies tend not to like foreign IBANs even companies such as Vodafone which has European operations.

Unfortunately it feels for the time being it's a necessity to have an Irish account for paying direct debits.

Darc19 · 13-11-2021 8:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058217630/with-kbc-leaving-is-it-a-bad-decision-to-switch-to-them

You heard wrong.

As above Bank of Ireland have made an offer for the kbc loan book.

It has to get approval.

However, kbc have said that they will be leaving Ireland in the near future, so you would need to change account again in about 12 months.

AIB business online is superb. Possibly they will make changes to the app, but I'm surprised it doesn't show the balance somewhere.

Jim2007 · 13-11-2021 11:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118162262#Comment_118162262

I don’t think it a case of liking or disliking but more a case of not being will to cover the costs of the changes necessary for the sake of a few customers. I expect that as time goes by and the changes are included in new versions of the software automatically the issue will disappear but it will take a lot of time.

colly10 · 14-11-2021 10:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118162275#Comment_118162275

They don’t show the balance, i’ve checked everywhere and this has been brought up on twitter by a few people in the last few days.

They say removing the balance brings it in line with the mobile app which is the worst decision i’ve heard in a while.

The wait times on their mobile support have become fairly bad recently but either way, the removal of balance is unworkable for me

With KBC leaving, is it a bad decision to switch to them?

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