KBC exiting Ireland

I've had an N26 account since they opened to the Irish market as well as Revolut.

The Revolut app has on many ocassions become unresponsive for hours at a time, on one ocassion it was a full day and that was highly problematic for me ( on Android, dont know if it was on Apple too) however the N26 one never ever has.

My emergency fund savings are in the N26 app as a result of the above and i've no concerns whatsoever.

On both you can do instant transfers to other N26/Revolut accounts which is handy when one of us is out shopping and funds are low which has happened once or twice.

That said SEPA transfers on Revolut are pretty much instant, however on N26 they take a few hours, YMMV

I’m moving back to Bank Of Ireland after closing my account to move to KBC. I moved to avoid the fees which they introduced as there was a free option but now that KBC are moving to the final stages of exiting I don’t mind going back to BOI and paying the monthly fee. I never had a problem with them before.

I had to open a new account which could be done online through my phone and was very easy. 10 minutes max to send everything through. IBAN issued 24 hours later. Just waiting for debit card and online banking and I’ll be good to go.

I did have a credit card with them but closed that also and opened a Avant account and linked to a curve card. Much better. Cash back monthly etc.

I'd second what the other commenter said and definitely go with your local credit union.

I'm a bit weary now with Revolut myself as I had about €1k saved in a Vault and meanwhile my passport expired. I'd no intention of getting a new one since we were mid-lockdown at that stage. Revolut froze my account and wouldn't let me withdraw any money. Tried explaining how I didn't cease to exist just cos my ID expired and how N26/Monese/AIB et al had no problems with it since my accounts were all already verified but they were having none of it! Took about 2wks once I got a new passport and submitted it to unfreeze my account!

I'll miss KBC!

I asked in work & they said they can't pay into revolut as the sage payroll software won't accept it. Going to send my wages to my wife's account for now.

They're most likely using a standalone software they bought some time ago. New version cost money and they most likely don't want to invest (very common in Ireland to avoid investments). Cloud-based solution would be updated as it's paid based on the subscription, not as a once-off purchase as above.

Breaking the law for any business isn't a good look. I bet they can pay suppliers with European IBANs

But if more savvy customers start to avoid them and it hurts the bottom line you will see things change then.

Exactly. Revolut etc aren't so massively advantageous over domestic banks that for something like getting your wages paid, it's worth the hassle. They have things they do 100 times better than boi or aib, but they're not immune to acres of customer complaints themselves.

All of the banks are ****, you just have to choose the one that's least **** about the specific stuff you personally care about.

Equally, If I'm a potential employee turning down a job or whinging because I demand to get my wages paid into an n26 Iban rather than an Irish one and have the company do some pain in the hole upgrade to the whole payroll system, I'm probably the sort of dose that other employees will soon revolt over working with me.

I've no problem paying for banking but BOI and AIB in particular have relatively archaic digital services and some of the highest mortgage interest rates in the EU. They know customers have no other viable choice so they will improve their offerings at a snails pace

Who says they do? They're a non entity in the UK market, same as boi. Banks make money lending to other banks, not from old Mrs. Goggin with her tuppence a week into her current account.

Credit cards are free if you pay it off every month, why do they give out cards for free when they could charge.

Banks have different streams of revenue. I'm with kbc because my mortgage is there. They make a lot off me without me paying for my current account. I also used them for loans.

I'm amazed at how people will accept fees and pay for innefficient services when there are better options. I've been with BOI, AIB & permanent tsb in the past and have had problems with each of them which will make them a last resort, it's not just down to fees.

Credit cards are free because banks take a significant cut before paying out to the merchant.

So, you agree that current account holders don't provide any material business to the banks, but you expect to get a complicated service with high costs (customer service staff and branch locations) for nothing, and are surprised when it's not offered?

Free banking was a thing for a while, it has gradually been phased out except in markets where customer churn is very high and people tend to have multiple accounts with several different banks, and "winning customer share" is a myth some banks are still chasing. In those markets, banks are also ****. It's because banks are **** at infrastructural investment, which is ironic given that banking was one of the key drivers of computerisation, international data communications, and software development in the 60's and 70's.

I doubt HR are going to tell everyone it was a particular employee.

Company X is still breaking the law regardless.

If a huge niche supplier wanted to be paid into a new IBAN would they upgrade or say no.

Would they not blame the HR people for not testing the new software release properly before going live with the upgrade?

It is also to do with security threats to senior management.

Have a look at the threads in the work forum here about how employees share information about potential employers. That goes on right across social media. Ireland is still a pretty small place, so if an employer isn't able to pay salary to a large bunch of potential younger employees, word gets around among those communities fairly quickly. It would be a bit silly of a company to let their IT provider off the hook and exclude potential employees, in a competitive recruitment market.

I'm not sure if Revolut topup is charged by AIB as an online payment as it's through Google Pay (or Google Play). When I use phone via Google Pay, AIB won't charge - that I know. Even if Revolut topup costs, then you could topup just one a month then rather than whenever needed.

To setup a payee on PTSB need to use an online banking on the laptop, PC or tablet. On their app there's no such a function. Then it needs to be confirmed on the app. So if a person doesn't have an app or doesn't have a laptop, PC or tablet, then yes, need to go to branch.

AIB paper manual standing order cost 4.50 Euro to setup, but if you do that yourself on their online banking or app - that's for free.

With the AIB app not showing the codes it could be app settings which can be changed to back to show all notifications. All or some notifications of the app must have been turned off. Or reinstalling the app would help. I've seen BOI customers telling same and this normally resolves it.

It depends on what way you're sending money from AIB to N26: via IBAN or through Google Play. But again, I'm note, maybe both ways would accumulate the charge. I'm back to AIB just a month ago. When I'll get the statement of fees, I'll check this out.

IMO AIB is the only most professional and relevant bank in Ireland after UB and KBC leaving us. UB was good for their excellent app, KBC for easy, long opening hours and very competent customer service. I've also never seen a queue in their branches.

BOI in my eyes are irrelevant, old-school, very slow to respond (staff shortage?), with a nice, but inefficient customer service. I felt the pain watching my partner dealing with them on simple queries. We both now with AIB.

PTSB in my opinion isn't a bank. I doubt their qualification, everything is just badly organised and they also seem to be inefficient: long queues in branches, awful customer service on phone, app is very limited and old-fashion. This institution is for old people who doesn't need an excellent app and have plenty of time chatting while waiting in the queue. It's not for a new generation with modern needs. What also shocked me that PTSB employees don't communicate with each other. I ended up unnecessarily filling up the form in branch as one of the staff members couldn't find my originally completed form. She then went on to the lunch break while I was completing the the form once again. Another staff returned and she said they had it left here in the drawer and were waiting for me. They looked to me like a bunch of headless chickens. I didn't feel confident dealing with them.

AIB phone customer service used to be good, but I can't say that now. The last calls weren't pleasant, I felt I'm disturbing their peace, however, they at least gave a proper information, what I couldn't tell about the PTSB who normally cannot give a straight and correct answer (in my personal experience). I like AIB app as it's easy to use. The thing I dislike about the AIB is their short customer service hours (till 5pm), unlike KBC who're opening until 11pm.

I won't mention EBS - I don't consider them as a bank. A simple fact that to setup a DD you need to post them a completed paper form tells everything you need about them. AIB don't need them. I think, EBS should be sold to an international investor who could transform it to something like KBC but with even less branches.

Yeah I tried all that with the app and we still couldn't get them through. Don't know what was going on. Thanks for your input mate, very helpful. I agree completely on PTSB I'd be loathe to go them, I've seen the same issues via my wife and friend who both bank with them, but they're nearest and probably cheapest which is the only reason I'd consider them.

I suspect you are confusing what banks are required to do between themselves vs what consumers are allowed to do.