Raisin deposit accounts (no referrals)

soirish

Raisin are a marketplace for savings accounts from multiple European banks. They're launching in Ireland in the next few weeks. This will open us up to a much wider range of options for savings accounts and should hopefully bring a bit more competition to the market like Number 26 and Revolut are. They have a German version that is already up and running so you can take a look at how it works.

Link to sign up: https://www.raisin.com/
*No referrals please*

For those who've signed up would be great to share some feedback.

JTMan

Great to see this service. Important to remember that it is a market for products rather than a bank itself.

Nobody can offer feedback until the service launches. Albeit, they have a similar Germany-only offering.

Positives of the offering:

• Gives Irish customers access to 11 banks they would not ordinarily have access to.
• Offers much better rates than the Irish banks.
• Gives access to AIB rates that are not available to AIB customers!
• Helps make pan European banking that little bit more of a reality.
• Gives consumers access to the German deposit guarantee.

Negatives of the offerings:

• Some of the offerings are from rather small European banks.
• Some of the offerings are from countries that people might have hesitations opening banking accounts in.

I will be trying them out when they launch.

Lumina

Wondering folks, what will the government take off of us when we open these accounts?

AlmightyCushion

Lumina wrote: »

Wondering folks, what will the government take off of us when we open these accounts?

You'd have to pay DIRT on all interest earned but that's the same for any savings account.

JTMan

DIRT will not be deducted at source with 11 of the 12 banks in the marketplace (I guess AIB's Raisin's Irish customers will be deducted as source).

You will need to declare your deposit interest earnings to the Revenue.

Delta2113

Having to declare to Revenue would put me off this product so I'll stick with state savings. I would prefer the DIRT to be deducted automatically from the account.

JTMan

Fair enough but declaring deposit interest once a year to the Revenue is a straight forward enough process.

soirish

Got an email today that Raisin brokered more than EUR 1 billion‏. Meanwhile the partner banks are down to just two.

JTMan

soirish wrote: »

Meanwhile the partner banks are down to just two.

Raising launched with 2 partner banks.

Their German product offering has 14 partner banks (although at least 2 of these 14 are subsidiary banks).

suave.4u

Hi Guys,
Is anyone using this service? They are giving upto EUR 75 for new customers (or thats what the email says).

JTMan

I have a deposit with one of their partner banks.

The T&C's for the current bonus are as follows:

In addition to high interest rates on your term deposits, Raisin also offers its customers a welcome bonus of up to EUR 75!

The welcome bonus is valid for all new customers from 14.9.2016 on www.raisin.com and can be requested upon completion of your first term deposit with one of our partner banks.

The bonus applies to the first term deposit and the amount is dependent on the term of the deposit:

- Up to 1.5 years → EUR 25
- 2 to 3 years → EUR 50
- Above 3 years → EUR 75


To receive the bonus, please send an email to service@raisin.com with the subject “Welcome bonus”. The bonus will be added to your Raisin Account within 14 days of successfully completing the criteria required.

Henry Ford III

Hmmm.....are all of those banks authorised to provide deposit services here?

If not higher rate tax and USC may apply to the interest I think.

JTMan

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Hmmm.....are all of those banks authorised to provide deposit services here?

The banks are authorised in their country of domicile.

Henry Ford III wrote: »

If not higher rate tax and USC may apply to the interest I think.

No. EU deposit interest has the same tax rate for all EU countries.

fbradyirl

I just tried to register with Raisin but Ireland is not listed on the drop down when registering. Have they stopped Irish signups?

JTMan

Yeah, Raisin seem to have suspended Irish sign ups. Raisin say they are working to get Irish signups back up and running. No reason given. No other country has been suspended. Strange. Seems to have no effect on existing customers.

Spocker

They have been blocked by the Central Bank - heres the article from yesterdays Sunday Times:

phester28

I know that the interest paid on these accounts will have a portion kept by the bank (Poland,Austria etc.)

A Credit is obtainable from revenue on these portions but I am trying for the life of me to find out how to make a declaration for interest to pay DIRT only.

I am a PAYE worker so I would not normally do a pay and file return.

Has anyone any insight into how to do this correctly

JTMan

Did you earn the deposit interest payment in 2016 or 2017. If it was 2016, you have until later this year to file a return.

For my Polish deposit the steps were:
Step 1 is to get a letter confirming tax residence from the Revenue.
Step 2 is to send the letter by post to Raisin. (Raisin will give you a sample Revenue letter and provide a postal address).
Step 3 is Raisin contact the bank with the letter and ensure a reduced rate of tax is applied.
Step 4 is to file a tax return with the Revenue. State the tax you have already paid (the reduced rate) and pay the difference in DIRT. Register with Revenue My Account and file an electronic online return. It is simple enough filling out and you know your liability straight away.

phester28

Thanks. I am ahead of the game so far. I have contacted raisin as the letter of tax residence is now only issued as an E-document. A p60 may suffice but they requested an official paper copy. My P60 is now also an E-Doc.

It may take a month for revenue email to reply. My due date is in a few months time so I'm under no rush as of yet.

JTMan

I have contacted raisin as the letter of tax residence is now only issued as an E-document.

I got it as a paper document from the Revenue in recent weeks.

It may take a month for revenue email to reply.

I find sending the query via My Queries inside the Revenue online portal, getting a ticket number and then ringing the Revenue with the ticket number speeds up the query process.

Bob24

I came across this thread as I wanted to open an account with Raisin but noticed Ireland was not an option - and saw the explanation from the Sunday Time above.

Does anyone know whether if I open an account with an address in a supported country (valid address but not my primary residence) they will then let me amend my account with an Irish address?

JTMan

You will be able to open an account with a non Irish address if you have up to date proof of address. As to whether Raisin will let you switch to an Irish address thereafter, at a guess no.

Raisin continue to allow existing Irish customers open new term deposit accounts but not new Irish customers. This saga is going on a long time with the Central Bank of Ireland, hopefully it will get sorted soon. We are the only EU country that cannot open new accounts.

Bob24

JTMan wrote: »

You will be able to open an account with a non Irish address if you have up to date proof of address. As to whether Raisin will let you switch to an Irish address thereafter, at a guess no.

Raisin continue to allow existing Irish customers open new term deposit accounts but not new Irish customers. This saga is going on a long time with the Central Bank of Ireland, hopefully it will get sorted soon. We are the only EU country that cannot open new accounts.

Cheers. Yes proof of address wouldn't be a problem. I am just afraid if I give an address abroad and can't subsequently amend it I'll look like I am trying to dodge revenue (or that raisin might provide my details to the tax authorities of that country even though I am not a tax reseidrnt there). Am I worried for no reason?

JTMan

Whilst you might be fine, I would personally not sign documents saying I am tax resident of one country when I am actually tax resident of another country. With tax authority data sharing these days there is a slim chance it might get you in trouble.

Perhaps you are best waiting for Raisin and the CBI to solve their Irish regulatory set up here if that ever happens.

BTW, as a side note, Raisin now pay 1.25% AER fixed for a 1 year term deposit via Atl?ntico Europa. Significantly better than Irish banks.

Bob24

For reference I emailed them to ask if they are planning to become available again in Ireland and the answer was fairly vague saying they are indeed not currently available in Ireland and Belgium at the moment but working on reintroducing their offers in these countries with no known time-frame at this stage.

JTMan

Does not sound promising. Previously Raisin were saying they were hoping of reintroducing the offers "in the coming weeks", now saying "no timeframe". I bet the CBI are going slow with the approval process.

Bob24

JTMan wrote: »

Does not sound promising. Previously Raisin were saying they were hoping of reintroducing the offers "in the coming weeks", now saying "no timeframe". I bet the CBI are going slow with the approval process.

Just for the sake of me not putting words in their mouth (they didn't exactly say no timeframe even tough that's what they meant), here is an exact quote of what they wrote:

Unfortunately, permanent residents from Ireland and Belgium are currently not able to open a Raisin Account at this time.

We are currently working hard to offer our service in Ireland and Belgium as well. Unfortunately we cannot provide any specific information as to how long this process will take. As soon as our service is available in your country we will inform you accordingly.

homer911

Anyone heard any update on this? - went to register today and saw that Ireland is not an option for your address when registering

Jim2007

homer911 wrote: »

Anyone heard any update on this? - went to register today and saw that Ireland is not an option for your address when registering

This is an intermediary not a bank who refuses to apply for the appropriate licences to operate on in the individual EU member states arguing that it's consumer protection under it's home country is sufficient. Now in the event of a problem, who likely do you think you are going to be able to get relief under the local laws of another member state from your base in Ireland? To start with German has Civil Law, while Ireland has Common Law and all proceedings in Germany would be in German.

The Irish Central Bank is correct in refusing permission for them to operate under these terms and other central banks are doing no service to their citizens in allowing them to operate there.

The other think to keep in mind is that no matter how it is presented, higher returns always represents higher risk. No bank is going to give you a high rate of return than they have to, they are offering that particular rate because they need to get their hands on deposits, not because they are nice guys.

People need to realise that the Deposit guarantee scheme is not some kind of blank protection to cover all the things that can go wrong when they place their money with a foreign bank, particularly the corner shop type operations offered via this platform. It covers a very specific set of circumstances and if your situation does not fall into that criteria, then is a case of too bad so sad.

JTMan

Jim2007 wrote: »

This is an intermediary not a bank who refuses to apply for the appropriate licences to operate on in the individual EU member states arguing that it's consumer protection under it's home country is sufficient.

Is that the whole idea behind EU passporting? A bank can be regulated in 1 state and passport into another state. Rabo operated here for years under Dutch regulation.

Jim2007 wrote: »

Now in the event of a problem, who likely do you think you are going to be able to get relief under the local laws of another member state from your base in Ireland?

In event of a problem, the first 100k will be reimbursed to you, all customers will be treated the same regardless of nationality.

Jim2007 wrote: »

People need to realise that the Deposit guarantee scheme is not some kind of blank protection to cover all the things that can go wrong when they place their money with a foreign bank, particularly the corner shop type operations offered via this platform.

What circumstances does the Deposit guarantee scheme not cover below 100k?

Jim2007

JTMan wrote: »

Is that the whole idea behind EU passporting? A bank can be regulated in 1 state and passport into another state. Rabo operated here for years under Dutch regulation.

We are talking about an intermediary not a bank and on top of that one who has been specifically told not to trade here.

JTMan wrote: »

In event of a problem, the first 100k will be reimbursed to you, all customers will be treated the same regardless of nationality.

No not any problem, in the event of a very specific problem - a bank going bankrupt.

JTMan

Jim2007 wrote: »

No not any problem, in the event of a very specific problem - a bank going bankrupt.

If a bank does bankrupt, then depositors are paid up to 100k per person from the relevant countries deposit insurance scheme.

Bhangraman

JTMan wrote: »

Raisin is not available for new Irish applicants.

On separate "Ulster Bank introducing transition charges" thread, you mentioned this. Can you please define "new applicant" as I registered with them in Jan 2016 but haven't applied to any savings products?
Would you recommend I proceed with them? They got relatively good offers it seems: https://www.raisin.com/our-offers/

JTMan

Applications were open for Irish residents for a short while after Raisin opened. I have an account with Raisin from back then and term deposits.

If you registered then, but did not do anything beyond registration, then perhaps you can open term deposits. When you log into your account can you view the list of term deposit market offerings?

The returns are great. The tax side requires extra steps. The risk is low.

Wheety

I just had a look there and Atlantico in Portugal was offering the best rate for 1 year. I know Raisin won't let me sign up with Irish details but I could sign up directly with Atlantico.

I haven't and I won't be but if someone does a bit more research into that , they might be happy doing it that way.

Obviously won't get the bonus though.

Bhangraman

JTMan wrote: »

When you log into your account can you view the list of term deposit market offerings?

Wheety wrote: »

I just had a look there and Atlantico in Portugal was offering the best rate for 1 year. I know Raisin won't let me sign up with Irish details but I could sign up directly with Atlantico.

Yes, I can see the offers:

JTMan wrote: »

The tax side requires extra steps.

Did you already have to go through that? What steps exactly are entailed?

Wheety wrote: »

Obviously won't get the bonus though.

What do you mean by that?

Wheety

Bhangraman wrote: »

What do you mean by that?

I presume the bonus here is a Raisin bonus. I don't see it on the Atlantico website.

JTMan

Regarding tax, the steps vary from country to country. Ireland has different tax arrangements with different countries. For Poland, and Raisin offer term deposits with Alior Bank in Poland, there are 2 tax steps. 1 you need to get a letter from Revenue before the term deposit matures stating that you are a tax resident of Ireland. This means that you will get a reduced rate of tax. 2 you need to declare the deposit interest via a form 11/12 and pay any remaining taxes which is the differential between the DIRT rate and the Polish applied reduced rate.

Going direct with any of these banks means you do not have access to the English language speaking Raisin customer care.

Bob24

JTMan wrote: »

Going direct with any of these banks means you do not have access to the English language speaking Raisin customer care.

Also it is likely that banks will not offer the same deals to direct customers than they do through Raisin (as Raisin serves a specific purpose for them).

For exemple AIB currently only pays 0.10% to its direct customers for a 1 year term deposit account: https://aib.ie/our-products/savings-and-deposits/Deposit-Rates

And they are paying 0.50% for a similar 1 year term deposit account on Raisin’s German website: https://www.weltsparen.de/angebote/aib001/?rt=1s

Yes, an Irish bank is paying 5 times more in interest to German depositors through an intermidery which takes a commission than they are paying to their direct customers in Ireland.

JTMan

On the tax point, I should add that Raisin customer care are good at helping with the process in terms of documentation needed with the bank.

@Bob24 - Yeah, The Irish Times pointed this out before. AIB defended this on the basis that only a tiny percentage of their customers are via Raisin and the fact that they are experimenting with Fintech links. But yeah it's a significant difference in rates.

Hopefully Raisin find a way to operate here for new customer accounts soon.

Bob24

JTMan wrote: »

AIB defended this on the basis that only a tiny percentage of their customers are via Raisin and the fact that they are experimenting with Fintech links. But yeah it's a significant difference in rates.

Yeah as I said for them it serves a very specific purpose and they have no interest in offering the same thing they are offering on Raisin to their standard retail customers.

I assume the same would be true for most banks listed on Raisin - especially if you come in as a foreign small depositor who doesn’t speak the local language.

JTMan

Raisin are getting a banking license via acquiring a bank that has a license. Raisin say that this will enable expansion. Hopefully that includes Ireland.
https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/06/raisin-acquires-mhb-bank/

Jim2007

JTMan wrote: »

Raisin are getting a banking license via acquiring a bank that has a license. Raisin say that this will enable expansion. Hopefully that includes Ireland.
https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/06/raisin-acquires-mhb-bank/

If you know a bit about German banking and read the German text rather than the English, it comes of as more like taking over the local credit union in BallyGoBackwards.

JTMan

Raisin Bank have re-launched in Ireland today.

3 banks providing products via Raisin.ie including some better-than-Irish-bank rates from J&T.

Dardania

JTMan wrote: »

Raisin Bank have re-launched in Ireland today.

3 banks providing products via Raisin.ie including some better-than-Irish-bank rates from J&T.

I’ve lodged a test €1000 a few weeks ago for 3 months - be curious to see how it turns up

JTMan

Dardania wrote: »

I’ve lodged a test €1000 a few weeks ago for 3 months - be curious to see how it turns up

Huh?

How did you do it a few weeks ago when they only launched today? (Unless you have one of their non Raisin.ie offerings)

Also, 5k is the minimum.

I have had term deposits with Raisin.com for the last 3 years. I registered before the CBI put a halt on new Irish registrations.

Dardania

JTMan wrote: »

Huh?

How did you do it a few weeks ago when they only launched today? (Unless you have one of their non Raisin.ie offerings)

Also, 5k is the minimum.

I have had term deposits with Raisin.com for the last 3 years. I registered before the CBI put a halt on new Irish registrations.

Not resident in Ireland.

I think the minimum is decided on a product by product basis.

JTMan

Minimums are on a bank by bank basis with the lowest on Raisin.ie being 5k.

Twofeet

During a recent video call ID verification with Raisin Bank, I was asked to move my hand back and forth across my face with my fingers spread. I'm curious to know — should anyone have the answer — how this helps with the verification and if it's a common enough practice.

AlmightyCushion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120812595#Comment_120812595

I have done these video call verifications with a few different companies. They all get you to do something like that. I think it's just to ensure that your face isn't a picture or a deep fake type of thing.

Twofeet

@AlmightyCushion. Thanks for clarifying the process.