Switching business bank accounts

deadwood85

Thinking of switching business accounts from boi to aib,fed up with the rubbish business online service,heard good things about AIB online banking?

Anybody any experience with switching?

amber2

deadwood85 wrote: »

Thinking of switching business accounts from boi to aib,fed up with the rubbish business online service,heard good things about AIB online banking?

Anybody any experience with switching?

Not too sure if you are a LTD Co or a Sole Trader but if you are the latter you can register as a sole trader and use 365 Online which free and a much better service by far than Business Online which is a jip, not to Mind a rip off. Not familiar with AIB.

Ogogo

Business Online is "Online Banking like its 1999" what a piece of carp. After waiting for god knows how many years for the new version - I still cant do something as practical as export a CSV statement.

The lady at the BOI told me that she was going to switch my Ltd Co A/C to Banking 365 (But its not done yet) Not sure if she was mistaken or not. I am not convinced that AIB are much better from what I have heard :-(

VincePP

Depends on what you want

Used to be with Ulster, now with AIB. Initially their online banking was just OK, but a lot of improvments.

In addition to the normal transactions, I can now schedule payments in advance (handy if going away), check and print 12 months back, set up & change standing orders, import payroll, foreign transfers at dealer rate (need to book rate with dealer 1st). Ability to set daily limits per user - handy to stop errors especially if someone else has access (our accountant can do payments up to 5k a day)

Search function has improved too.

Some items need you to change settings and to agree additional terms.

Its not fancy, but its functual

VincePP

Depends on what you want

Used to be with Ulster, now with AIB. Initially their online banking was just OK, but a lot of improvments.

In addition to the normal transactions, I can now schedule payments in advance (handy if going away), check and print 12 months back, set up & change standing orders, import payroll, foreign transfers at dealer rate (need to book rate with dealer 1st). Ability to set daily limits per user - handy to stop errors especially if someone else has access (our accountant can do payments up to 5k a day)

Search function has improved too.

Some items need you to change settings and to agree additional terms.

Its not fancy, but its functual

elastico

Ogogo wrote: »

The lady at the BOI told me that she was going to switch my Ltd Co A/C to Banking 365 (But its not done yet) Not sure if she was mistaken or not. I am not convinced that AIB are much better from what I have heard :-(

It can be done. Keep the pressure on them.

SBG387

I've been with AIB for a couple of years and as a limited company, I've had to use their online banking (IBB).

I've just recently (i.e 2016) moved to Ulster because
(a) AIB's online solution (IBB) is far too complex & unwieldy for my needs (details below), and
(b) they started to charge me for the privilege of using it (c. 260pa).

Your situation may differ to mine.
- I'm the only employee of my Ltd business.
- I need a credit card or debit card to pay expenses.
- I need a bank account to receive payments from a small number of clients (some pay by electronic transfer; some pay me by cheque).

So, all I need to do online is view / export card & bank transactions, pay some bills, and pay myself.

*** Executive Summary: AIB's IBB is a headache if you are a limited company with no complex banking needs. Ulster's is far more straightforward. ***

I've written some detail below to explain my summary above.

Ulster's online business banking solution for people like me is the same as for personal customers - UlsterbankAnytime. If you know BOI's 365Online or AIB's Internet Banking, you will know what Ulster's solution is like. Their mobile app is even easier to use than these two competitors (I know, I'm a personal customer of all three - I bank around!).

Ulster's solution fits my needs perfectly. And it's not €260+ per annum.

AIB's IBB seems to be designed for larger organisations where the owner may not be the one doing the day-to-day banking.
- You need to use a PIN generator device to log in
- You need this to make ANY payments, to set up new payees etc. i.e. Every transaction you want to carry out is actually a two step process: (1) You set up the transaction or payee and (2) you then authorise it with the PIN device.
- If you need to carry out transactions on mobile or while away from the office, best of luck unless you want to bring your pin generator device with you. (FYI It does not look like it would survive sandy beaches!)

Despite the above, I accepted IBB as just part of the joys of running my business. And then I forgot my IBB site password..

If you forget your IBB site password, you need to visit the branch and get a new IBB login account set up - You can't reset your password online and they can't do it for you over the phone or in branch. I am told they can link your existing PIN generator device to this new login account but no-one I dealt with in AIB was able to get this to work. In the end, a new PIN generator needed to be sent out. Result: Your online access to your bank account could be impacted for 2 weeks while this all gets sorted. If you don't find someone in the branch who goes out of their way to resolve the issue on your behalf, you could be out of action for a longer period of time while everyone works out what should work but does not work.

While I was offline, I received notification of my quarterly IBB fees.

This was what drove me to switch.

The switching process with Ulster was a headache (plenty of paperwork, directors' signatures, etc). But I eventually managed to get it all sorted without needing to resort to a letter from the local priest. Despite the pain, I'm glad I switched - I can now quickly check my business account on a daily basis while I'm between meetings or doing other worthwhile businessy things!

Hope this helps someone somewhere.

VincePP

SBG387 wrote: »

I've been with AIB for a couple of years and as a limited company, I've had to use their online banking (IBB).

I've just recently (i.e 2016) moved to Ulster because
(a) AIB's online solution (IBB) is far too complex & unwieldy for my needs (details below), and
(b) they started to charge me for the privilege of using it (c. 260pa).

Your situation may differ to mine.
- I'm the only employee of my Ltd business.
- I need a credit card or debit card to pay expenses.
- I need a bank account to receive payments from a small number of clients (some pay by electronic transfer; some pay me by cheque).

So, all I need to do online is view / export card & bank transactions, pay some bills, and pay myself.

*** Executive Summary: AIB's IBB is a headache if you are a limited company with no complex banking needs. Ulster's is far more straightforward. ***

I've written some detail below to explain my summary above.

Ulster's online business banking solution for people like me is the same as for personal customers - UlsterbankAnytime. If you know BOI's 365Online or AIB's Internet Banking, you will know what Ulster's solution is like. Their mobile app is even easier to use than these two competitors (I know, I'm a personal customer of all three - I bank around!).

Ulster's solution fits my needs perfectly. And it's not €260+ per annum.

AIB's IBB seems to be designed for larger organisations where the owner may not be the one doing the day-to-day banking.
- You need to use a PIN generator device to log in
- You need this to make ANY payments, to set up new payees etc. i.e. Every transaction you want to carry out is actually a two step process: (1) You set up the transaction or payee and (2) you then authorise it with the PIN device.
- If you need to carry out transactions on mobile or while away from the office, best of luck unless you want to bring your pin generator device with you. (FYI It does not look like it would survive sandy beaches!)

Despite the above, I accepted IBB as just part of the joys of running my business. And then I forgot my IBB site password..

If you forget your IBB site password, you need to visit the branch and get a new IBB login account set up - You can't reset your password online and they can't do it for you over the phone or in branch. I am told they can link your existing PIN generator device to this new login account but no-one I dealt with in AIB was able to get this to work. In the end, a new PIN generator needed to be sent out. Result: Your online access to your bank account could be impacted for 2 weeks while this all gets sorted. If you don't find someone in the branch who goes out of their way to resolve the issue on your behalf, you could be out of action for a longer period of time while everyone works out what should work but does not work.

While I was offline, I received notification of my quarterly IBB fees.

This was what drove me to switch.

The switching process with Ulster was a headache (plenty of paperwork, directors' signatures, etc). But I eventually managed to get it all sorted without needing to resort to a letter from the local priest. Despite the pain, I'm glad I switched - I can now quickly check my business account on a daily basis while I'm between meetings or doing other worthwhile businessy things!

Hope this helps someone somewhere.

Its because of AIB's high level of security that I use it.

You can also get a second pin pad and have it set at a lower daily / per payment limit which I keep in my car.

Not sure about Ulster's search ability, but AIB can search by many parameters for 12months back.

But yes, for a small business it probably is too complex and they don't offer a "lite" version or mobile friendly version.

One thing you do need to be careful of with the Ulster system, that if you are approving multiple payments, check and check again everything is correct as it will be your fault if you make a wrong payment and it can't be "recalled" without a lot of hassle.