An post Savings

havenoidea

How safe/secure are savings in An Post ??.. Considering the run on the banks at the moment, pretty concerned with their ability to continue to pay out depositors who are moving their money elsewhere (foreign owned banks etc).... As An Post do not have a mortgage business, I assume they should be in a better state and are Government owned (and i hear you say, sure aren't the banks nearly the same).... but seeking some views on whether the An Post savings are guaranteed / more secure than the banks ??... Help !..

maximoose

No.

havenoidea

Sorry - what do you mean "no" ?... No to what ?... From their web site & calls to An Post, they are fully state guaranteed ...

refer to http://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/MainContent/Personal+Customers/Money+Matters/Savings+and+Investments/

Black Rock

The term “An Post Savings” is not correct. The proper term is "NTMA State Savings" as An Post is a selling agent for the range of State Savings products offered by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). The published annual accounts of the post office (An Post) have no statistics on savings at all because such savings by individuals do not form any part of the financial statements of An Post.

The reason for this is that the post office simply provide a counter service to collect savings money from individuals on behalf of the Government and the post office immediately, every day, hand all savings money over to the Government under the management of the National Treasury Management Agency where it is known as "NTMA State Savings" which includes Prize Bonds.

All NTMA State Savings money is managed by the NTMA and form an integral part of the Irish Government's debt otherwise known as the "national debt" or "Sovereign debt of Ireland".

The NTMA's website www.StateSavings.ie ie has a brochure on the home page which explains everything and lists their products which include Savings Bonds, Savings Cetificates, Instalment Savings, Deposit Accounts (such as the Ordinary Deposit Account and the Deposit Account Plus) National Solidarity Bond and Prize Bonds.

The repayment of all NTMA State Savings™ money is a direct, unconditional obligation of the Government of Ireland and there is no upper limit on the amount of your money that is protected and there is no expiry or end date for this protection.

MadsL

Never understood why the first bank to fail was http://www.postbank.ie/

Never a whimper whilst billions were being poured into the private banks. I thought we could not allow banks to fail in Ireland?

Yesterday, Postbank, jointly owned by An Post and BNP Paribas, stopped taking new business. It will close by the end of the year. Its name would suggest that Postbank is actually a bank, but this must be an illusion.

If it were a bank, Postbank would not be allowed to fail. And Brian Lenihan’s reaction to its closure was merely to say that he is “disappointed [his favourite word] but not surprised”.Why does the closure of Postbank get a c’est la vie shrug of the shoulders while the closure of Anglo is so unthinkable that at least €30 billion of public money is being used to keep it, if not actually alive, then apparently undead?

The answer Brian Lenihan would give is that Anglo is of “systemic importance” to the Irish economy, while Postbank is not.

Fintan O'Toole Irish Times March 2nd, 2010

Sarn

MadsL wrote: »

Never understood why the first bank to fail was http://www.postbank.ie/

Never a whimper whilst billions were being poured into the private banks. I thought we could not allow banks to fail in Ireland?

I don't think it failed, rather it was not considered to be viable and thus was wound down. Similar to what Halifax did.

If it had failed the reasons were probably due to it closing within three years of opening, implying that it was not of 'systemic importance'. Also, because it was a joint venture with Fortis (a non-native bank) that suffered financial difficulties it would not have been an Irish problem.

MadsL

I always felt that it was a wasted opportunity to set up a state backed SME lending bank, to help SME's escape the kind of credit lockdowns being suffered from the highstreet banks. A fraction of the money poured into Anglo would have done the trick.

Oh well, "postfone, your mobile for less" :rolleyes:

RichardAnd

I keep the lions share of my savings in An Post. However, I've little doubt that if the government suddenly decided to help themselves to the savings of our citizens, my money would be no more off limits than any deposit in any Irish bank. If they want my money, they'll find a way to get it.

aftermn

Doubt the NTMA savings are any safer then the banks in the event of default.
Have a few bob there myself. A fewbob in the banks and the credit union too. I also put a fewbob abroad, although even this is a bit of a lottery as there is no guarentee which of the currencies will be worst hit in the long run i.e. the dollar and sterling both have deficit issues almost as big as ours.

later12

The suggestion that savings are safer in An Post is effectively meaningless. There is no reason to believe that savings are safer in An Post than they are in Anglo Irish Bank or in AIB.

The same goes for international banks under the control of the FR. RaboBank, for example, advertise that they are the only Irish bank with an AAA rating. That is true, but since it is under the control of the financial regulator, it is effectively meaningless. Euro denominated rabobank savings could just as easily be subject to the same rules as domestic banks, including conversion into an punt nua, were that to arise. In fact the idea that, in an enhanced crisis situation, Rabobank (or an post, or whatever your bank is) would not be subject to the same rules as AIB or Anglo makes no sense.

clear thinking

Would it be better to buy government bonds yielding 11%, i would have thought so.