Is it possible for two people (husband and wife) sharing one current account?

TestLink

Is it possible to share a single current account between 2 people - husband and wife? Would bank issue 2 separate ATM cards for both?

tea and coffee

yes, it's called a joint account. they issue 2 cards one in each person's name

TestLink

Any disadvantages in doing this?

Which is the best bank for joint current account - AIB / PTSB?

tea and coffee

what do you mean by disadvantages? I suppose, theoretically, one person could clear out the account. For large withdrawals, you can stipulate, joint signatures (as opposed to single signatures) if you like, to prevent that. i.e that both parties on the account have to sign for large withdrawals.

TestLink

By disadvantages, I meant setting up direct debit etc in each persons name, accessing the bank account via internet using two different credentials etc?

tea and coffee

I don't know that. I expect you can just set up the DD in one person's name and have it come out of the joint account. E.g. Mr Test Link pays the ESB bill and it comes out of Mr and Mrs Test Link's account. or if the ESB bill is in joint names there is no issue either, of course

I don't know about the Internet banking aspect, because it hasn't arisen for me.

Sue Pa Key Pa

I have a joint account with herself with Permanent TSB

Either lodges money or wages in to it, we both have our own ATM cards, either can view and make payments online for bills etc. No downside

Dearg81

The main disadvantage is you need both signatures if you want to do something related to the account like update address or add a new savings account.

Mrs OBumble

TestLink wrote: »

Any disadvantages in doing this?

Yes. If your relationship breaks down, or even if the other starts behaving like an a** while you're still together, you can be left high and dry with no access to your money for months.

I'd even go so far as to say that they are a tool of choice for middle class domestic violence perpetrators.

Joint accounts are fine for truly joint expenses. But don't have one as your only account and don't keep savings in them.

Polo_Mint

Myself and my partner have a our own BOI accounts as well as a Joint BOI account.

We both put a set amount into the Joint account to cover all bills and joint payments.

We both use our own accounts for what we do individually.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Dearg81 wrote: »

The main disadvantage is you need both signatures if you want to do something related to the account like update address or add a new savings account.

No you don't. I set up my own savings account online, as did my wife. Either of us can set up a new payee or direct debit. I regularly transfer money in to her savings account too

jameshayes

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

No you don't. I set up my own savings account online, as did my wife. Either of us can set up a new payee or direct debit. I regularly transfer money in to her savings account too

S/He means a joint savings account, not a personal savings account

Sue Pa Key Pa

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Joint accounts are fine for truly joint expenses. But don't have one as your only account and don't keep savings in them.

Why would anyone keep their savings in a current account, joint or otherwise?

TheBlock

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I'd even go so far as to say that they are a tool of choice for middle class domestic violence perpetrators.
.

Interested to hear why you would think this. How would domestic violence even non physical occur through the use of a joint bank account?

Jayop

My wife and I share a current account. At the moment only my wages go into it but we have two cards and all the DD's come from it. I was also able to set up a savings account that I can access from my app and move money to and from instantly. Absolutely no problems but we're not money oriented people and it's one of the few things we don't kill each other over so it suits us well.

Thoie

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Yes. If your relationship breaks down, or even if the other starts behaving like an a** while you're still together, you can be left high and dry with no access to your money for months.

I'd even go so far as to say that they are a tool of choice for middle class domestic violence perpetrators.

Joint accounts are fine for truly joint expenses. But don't have one as your only account and don't keep savings in them.

Generations of people used joint accounts. Some of those may have been domestic violence perpetrators, but I wouldn't assume that someone setting one up is automatically an abuser. In single income families, which most used be, not having a joint account was more likely to be a sign of controlling behaviour. The earner would keep all the income and dole out grocery money to their partner for groceries etc, bit by bit. The non-earner would have to beg for money, and not have any discretionary spending.

There's no problem with DDs, ATM cards, internet banking or anything like that with them.

Disadvantages, as pointed out above, are if the relationship breaks down, there is always the possibility for one person to empty the account, but putting a limit on withdrawals might help.

Separate savings accounts are a good idea, if only to be able to buy the other person a present without them seeing the transaction.

If you're at the point of setting up a joint account, this is worth a read. It's not gospel, but there are some good ideas in there.

Jayop

TheBlock wrote: »

Interested to hear why you would think this. How would domestic violence even non physical occur through the use of a joint bank account?

Full control of all of an abused spouses money would make it more difficult for the abused one to leave or to plan to leave. Had they a private bank account then it would be easier to put some money away to prepare for that.

munchkin_utd

Polo_Mint wrote: »

Myself and my partner have a our own BOI accounts as well as a Joint BOI account.

We both put a set amount into the Joint account to cover all bills and joint payments.

We both use our own accounts for what we do individually.

snap.
exactly the same.

Rather than cumbersomely working out fractions of rent or bills, we chuck a heap of cash into a joint account each month and have all direct debits for bills/ childcare or courses for the kids working off that.

We then have our own accounts for our own spending money, but with a couple of kids, theres not the time to spend my own money, if even there was an amount of cash there in the first place to be spent.

I cant see a disadvantage of having a joint account when all it is doing is acting as a means to pool your cash on a running basis to pay bills. Ours would never have more than a few hundred of a surplus so if one of us were to steal "all the money" , it wouldnt be enough to buy a flight out of the country to anywhere interesting let alone live in paradise for the rest of our lives.

looksee

It depends on the relationship, we had a joint account right from the start and had no issues with using it. I did most of the day to day money management, my husband sorted the taxes, we had two cards and either of us could do anything with the account.

In the very early stages, just after we got married in 1969 I went to the bank to close my own account and put the money into my husband's, which then became a joint account and the bank clerk asked 'do you have your husband's permission to close your account?'
And I had to get a note from him to allow me to close my own account and move my (earned) money to his account :eek:

Wouldn't be a fan of it at all myself (only having a joint account). Myself and oh are discussing setting one up not for shared expenses as totting up receipts from who pays what in grocery shopping, bills etc and always one owing the other is getting tiresome. But it would be a joint account we both paid an equal amount into each month and each had a card to use for buying shared stuff and bills could be paid out of.

No way would we have our wages going into it as we both see our wages as our own and would like them in our own private current accounts and to spend on things as we choose. Savings accounts kept separate too would be my preference.

Sue Pa Key Pa

jameshayes wrote: »

S/He means a joint savings account, not a personal savings account

S/He said a Current Account

mrsmags16

Dearg81 wrote: »

The main disadvantage is you need both signatures if you want to do something related to the account like update address or add a new savings account.

Every DD I sign says that I need the signature of all account holders, but I always just write my name only and it goes through fine.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Antonella Cuddly Seal wrote: »

Wouldn't be a fan of it at all myself (only having a joint account).
.

Nobody mentioned ONLY having a joint account. Myself and my wife have a joint current account, joint online savings account, individual Credit Union accounts and she has a bank savings account.

What it boils down to is we consider every income, bill, saving & liability to be ours together. The way we set up our finances is to suit the way we pay our dues and put aside any surplus

promises

Myself and OH have a joint account for paying bills only. Every week we both lodge X amount in to cover our main bills. We both have visa debit cards but never use them except for paying bills. Makes life a lot easier but would never get rid of our own accounts, in my opinion once bills is paid we should both have our own money to spend/save as we wish.

StupidLikeAFox

Polo_Mint wrote: »

Myself and my partner have a our own BOI accounts as well as a Joint BOI account.

We both put a set amount into the Joint account to cover all bills and joint payments.

We both use our own accounts for what we do individually.

This setup works incredibly well. Work out your budget for food, mortgage, electricity, savings, internet etc and each lodge half to the joint account. Then you have your own accounts for your own discretionary spending.

Mrs OBumble

TheBlock wrote: »

Interested to hear why you would think this. How would domestic violence even non physical occur through the use of a joint bank account?

Do some work with Womens Aid or the like, and you will hear some interesting stories.

Not repeating details here, no need to give anyone ideas.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

Nobody mentioned ONLY having a joint account. Myself and my wife have a joint current account, joint online savings account, individual Credit Union accounts and she has a bank savings account.

What it boils down to is we consider every income, bill, saving & liability to be ours together. The way we set up our finances is to suit the way we pay our dues and put aside any surplus

I took it that the op meant working off only one account.

As another poster above id intend a joint account just for shared expenses like food, esb etc but we will continue keep our finances and incomes are seperate otherwise and aside from shared exprenses all other money is our own to do as we please, our savings are seperate and spending is not discussed.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Antonella Cuddly Seal wrote: »

I took it that the op meant working off only one account.

As another poster above id intend a joint account just for shared expenses like food, esb etc but we will continue keep our finances and incomes are seperate otherwise and aside from shared exprenses all other money is our own to do as we please, our savings are seperate and spending is not discussed.

I appreciate that the majority of couples take the same approach, especially since partners living together is as much the norm as marriage. I still can't get me head around the fact that joint finances, to me, is an essential part of commitment. We never measured His & Hers income, nor did we watch what the other spent.

In our 30+ years together, we paid all our bills from the same account that wages were paid in to and we spent as we went along. I might fancy buying a treat for myself (talking over €100 a time) but I'd always run it by herself first. She would never stop me but might remind me that we had to get a tank of oil soon, or something like that. Otherwise we would just buy what we wanted.

Perhaps we're lucky in that money was never scarce (or overly plentiful I might add), so individual spending never had to be apportioned

Electric Sheep

Polo_Mint wrote: »

Myself and my partner have a our own BOI accounts as well as a Joint BOI account.

We both put a set amount into the Joint account to cover all bills and joint payments.

We both use our own accounts for what we do individually.

We do this too. Each of us retains control of our salary payments, personal credit card payments, etc, and contribute equally to the joint account each month for household expenses.

I like it this way because I saw too many of my friends get financially shafted when their marriages/long term relationships broke up.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

I appreciate that the majority of couples take the same approach, especially since partners living together is as much the norm as marriage. I still can't get me head around the fact that joint finances, to me, is an essential part of commitment. We never measured His & Hers income, nor did we watch what the other spent.

In our 30+ years together, we paid all our bills from the same account that wages were paid in to and we spent as we went along. I might fancy buying a treat for myself (talking over €100 a time) but I'd always run it by herself first. She would never stop me but might remind me that we had to get a tank of oil soon, or something like that. Otherwise we would just buy what we wanted.

Perhaps we're lucky in that money was never scarce (or overly plentiful I might add), so individual spending never had to be apportioned

Each to their own but I couldn't operate like that with both salaries being mixed and feeling you have to mention that you are buying something or getting asked* about that round of jager bombs from the night club at 2am as there is a transaction on the joint account.

I earn my salary and its mine, she earns hers and its hers. Shared expenses are paid but after that I rather managing my own finances separately. Also if one of the couple spends more than the other regularly it could cause resentment as they are in a way "spending" the other persons money.

*I wouldn't be questioned on this but just picked it as a random example.

seamus

Antonella Cuddly Seal wrote: »

Each to their own but I couldn't operate like that with both salaries being mixed and feeling you have to mention that you are buying something or getting asked* about that round of jager bombs from the night club at 2am as there is a transaction on the joint account.

I earn my salary and its mine, she earns hers and its hers. Shared expenses are paid but after that I rather managing my own finances separately. Also if one of the couple spends more than the other regularly it could cause resentment as they are in a way "spending" the other persons money.

They're all just things that have to be agreed. Like you say, each to their own.

As far as I'm concerned all of the money that goes into the joint account is "ours", and if my wife arrives home with new clothes I don't ask what they cost and if she sees a €40 transaction from a pub, she doesn't ask.
We trust eachother to spend money sensibly, so no questions come up when purchases are made.

Things might be different if one person has a regular tendency to blow hundreds of euro and leave themselves short at the end of the month.

Children also changes things, a lot. We operated separate accounts until our first came along because we had no reason to change. Now I cannot imagine how you could run a household with children if you didn't have a joint account for all income.

Mrs OBumble

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

Perhaps we're lucky in that money was never scarce (or overly plentiful I might add), so individual spending never had to be apportioned

And she is lucky that you aren't an assh*le. And vice versa.

But there are some right numbers out there of either gender, and if you're unlucky enough to fall in love with them it could be you in the homless shelter because they stripped the account and fecked off.

MarkR

Polo_Mint wrote: »

Myself and my partner have a our own BOI accounts as well as a Joint BOI account.

We both put a set amount into the Joint account to cover all bills and joint payments.

We both use our own accounts for what we do individually.

That's what we do too.

Electric Sheep

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

And she is lucky that you aren't an assh*le. And vice versa.

But there are some right numbers out there of either gender, and if you're unlucky enough to fall in love with them it could be you in the homless shelter because they stripped the account and fecked off.

And a man who knows his wife is financially independent and can afford to leave him if she want to will be less inclined to act the prick. A woman with her own money (or vice versa) will be less likely to take abuse when she knows she can walk.

I would never put my salary under someone else's control, even that of my husband, and I have been married for many many years.

seamus

seamus wrote: »

Children also changes things, a lot. We operated separate accounts until our first came along because we had no reason to change. Now I cannot imagine how you could run a household with children if you didn't have a joint account for all income.

I'm fully in agreement with having a joint account as I said we don't have one yet and keeping all recipients of who pays what and then working out who owes what to who is getting annoying so a joint account that both pay "x" amount into every month or when ever its running low on money etc is an easy way to sort it. But only for shared expenses and not all other banking day to day. Even with kids etc each could just transfer money into the joint account for household and kids expenses but operate out of their person a/c day to day for their own spending and personal bills (car expenses, phone, lunch, nights out etc).

Again it does come down to person preference though.

Electric Sheep wrote: »

I would never put my salary under someone else's control, even that of my husband, and I have been married for many many years.

I'd agree with this.

Ayuntamiento

This exact same thread came up just before Christmas (advantages/disadvantages of joint accounts). I believe after pages and pages of discussion (all following the same pattern as above), the conclusion arrived at was- every couple is different, do whatever suits your relationship.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Electric Sheep wrote: »

I would never put my salary under someone else's control, even that of my husband, and I have been married for many many years.

Put if one party brings in the money and the other is a homemaker, or works part-time, should the latter have to ask for money? Is that not a more severe control?

Electric Sheep

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

Electric Sheep wrote: »

I would never put my salary under someone else's control, even that of my husband, and I have been married for many many years.

Put if one party brings in the money and the other is a homemaker, or works part-time, should the latter have to ask for money? Is that not a more severe control?

In that case I would arrange with my partner to transfer an agreed amount monthly to his personal account, in addition to the already agreed transfers to the joint account. I would still have my salary paid to my personal account.

ScottSF

My wife and I prefer joint accounts to simplify finances after being married for many years but of course every couple is different. It helps if either one of us needs to call the bank or go into a branch to deal with a problem as we are both authorized to make inquiries.

FYI with AIB...
I was told you cannot change an existing current account to be joint. So you'll have to open a new joint account if you want to merge finances and then redirect salary deposits and modify standing orders and automatic bill payments.
Also you cannot open up some of their savings account as joint. Their Online Saver cannot be joint and the Notice Savings can only be joint if you go into the branch (says so on AIB website). I believe these are more technical limitations and not related to what customers want or prefer.

Polo_Mint

As I said before but will expand is that a joint account is great when 2 people are working.

Myself and my OH totted up all bills which we both use:

TV
Gas
Rent
Petrol
Insurance
etc

If all this comes to €1800 a month we both put €1,000 onto the joint account.

If we are buying Furniture or appliances we also use the account with the extra few euro.

It leaves both of our own accounts to pay for what ever we like eg: My own mobile bill and everything else

Electric Sheep

Another advantage to having personal accounts in addition to a joint checking account is that I tend to be more aware of the balance and incoming/outgoing flow as I need to check to see that outgoings are covered, and transfer more if necessary.

Ayuntamiento

My personal opinion is that if a couple are able to happily operate a joint account as their ONLY account (all income deposited there, all outgoings coming from it), it tends to signify a very strong relationship with a well defined mutual outlook.
If you really can't trust your partner enough to share an account or you're sitting on the fence about it because you're worried it will all turn sour, it doesn't sound like you're 100% committed to the relationship.
Of course not everybody is in a relationship for the long haul so I can see why it doesn't suit lots of people.

Alun

I agree. We're married over 30 years now and have had a joint account only for all that time. It never even occurred to us to do otherwise to be honest, or that other couples did any differently.

Ayuntamiento

Alun wrote: »

I agree. We're married over 30 years now and have had a joint account only for all that time. It never even occurred to us to do otherwise to be honest, or that other couples did any differently.

Married 3yrs and totally agree so it's not even a generational thing! I don't understand the need to keep a separate account for your own disposable income spending.
I spend money on all kinds of crap (as does he) and we've never even discussed it, let alone argued about it.
If he wanted to spend a huge amount of money on something, like a guitar that costs 3k, he'd run it by me first and vice versa.
I think that's important because if you had 3k lying spare you'd have to ask yourselves as a couple whether a guitar is worth that amount when it might be better going into a mortgage overpayment, etc.
I think managing joint finances is a bit like strategic business management :pac:
Having said that, if either of us really wanted something, there'd be no objection because it genuinely makes me so happy to see him happy and vice versa.
I understand we sound like the Brady bunch but that's how it is.

okiss

My advice is to be carefull of join accounts.

1. If one person dies in a couple with a joint account. The account is frozen untill the legal details are sorted out. You could have a woman or man left with childen and bills to pay and no access to money.

2. Work out how much your bills are each month, the bills that have to be paid every 3 or 6 months or yearly. When you get this figure add €100 per month on top of it for each of you and lodge this money into a joint account. This account is used to pay bills and it has some extra money for any extra large bills ie the higher esb bill in jan ect.

3. Do not have a joint account that you pay both your salaries into each month. One of you could walk away with all the funds in this account and leave the other person with nothing.

4. I know a woman who split up with her husband a number of years ago. Everything was in joint names including what she saved with him over the years. She has to start to build up her own savings again. She had not as much as a bill in her name so even opening a basic bank account was hard.

Ayuntamiento

Ayuntamiento wrote: »

My personal opinion is that if a couple are able to happily operate a joint account as their ONLY account (all income deposited there, all outgoings coming from it), it tends to signify a very strong relationship with a well defined mutual outlook.
If you really can't trust your partner enough to share an account or you're sitting on the fence about it because you're worried it will all turn sour, it doesn't sound like you're 100% committed to the relationship.
Of course not everybody is in a relationship for the long haul so I can see why it doesn't suit lots of people.

I don't see how the a couple not wanting to operate a joint account as their main account could be looked on as a lack of trust or commitment as a definite.

Yes it may be the case but it also may not be. I just like looking after my own account, having full control over the in/outs from it etc and knowing where every euro goes. A joint account for shared stuff is fine but otherwise I see no reason not to operate out of your own account for stuff that's not shared. I would be the same with savings. I would keep the majority of savings separate also particular as people contribute different amounts to savings or have different amount of historic savings so its really only fair that they are not joint. One joint savings account that both contribute a portion of their overall savings to would be fine but not everything combined.

Electric Sheep

Antonella Cuddly Seal wrote: »

I don't see how the a couple not wanting to operate a joint account as their main account could be looked on as a lack of trust or commitment as a definite.

Plenty of people trusted their spouse until the day they woke up to find their accounts cleared out, whether through marriage breakdown or mental illness or gambling or any other reason that makes one partner decide they deserve all of the joint money.

Protecting your own financial security and that of any children should always be a priority. Circumstances change, and so do people.

In the long run, in case of marital breakdown, the assets will be split anyway, it is having access to funds in the short term that can be crucial.