Smart Account from An Post

OU812

Recieved an invitation from An Post this morning to apply for their "Smart Account" (www.smartaccount.ie).

Checked the website & it's €5 a month which is more than I currently pay (UB), but they have an interesting feature where your account has "Wallets", where you can lodge money to & operate Direct Debits from. This would save me the cost & hassle of two other accounts, but I'm waiting on clarrification from them on a number of questions. I'll update the thread when they do.

The main advantages I can see are that there's somewhere to do banking at the weekend & they have a cashback facility with a (limited) number of partners.

The card issued is a mastercard & is black, but for some reason they decided to put the an post logo in green on it which makes it somewhat ugly, they should have gone with a green card.

Delta2113

Get a EBS Money Manager account if you haven't one already -totally FREE. I'd keep away from this -not worth €5 a month.

Duncanwooly

Did you get an answer to your questions ?

OU812

I did & I forgot to post. Didn't bother going ahead with it myself

Dear OU812,

Thank you for contacting An Post Smart Account.

Further to your recent enquiry; you are able to open a joint account between yourself and your wife, where you can share 2 wallets.

Wallets are free to use and free to transfer between, you can have direct debits sent from each individual wallet. Direct debits are free and included in the Monthly Maintenance Fee.

This means you can have your current account for everyday spending, a Wallet set for savings and a Wallet set for your Mortgage and grocery shopping.

Unfortunately, An Post Smart Account only offers a Debit card Smart Account, as far as I know, there are no plans to have a Credit Card option or any overdraft limits.

You will be able to access a quarterly statement from your online account.

Should you require any further assistance please don’t hesitate to contact us on 01705 8000.

Kind Regards,

jamesthepeach

This thing is far too complicated.
The wallets is a good idea but this account is full of limitations. Smacks of them trying to get you in at one price and then charging more later.

Besides, banks are going to be going back to free current accounts very soon.

Ptsb do a free current account.

noel100

Download revolut app and get a mastercard
Set up direct debits transfers and currwncy exchange at interbank rate.
No fees

JTMan

OU812 wrote: »

Checked the website & it's €5 a month which is more than I currently pay (UB),

Fees include:
- €60 per year in maintenance fees.
- €0.60 per ATM transaction.
- €0.50 per cash lodgement.
- €0.90 plus 3.0% of Transaction Value for non-EUR ATM use.
- 3.0% of Transaction Value for non-EUR transactions.

Rip off versus the other current account products available.

OU812 wrote: »

but they have an interesting feature where your account has "Wallets", where you can lodge money to & operate Direct Debits from.

Yawn. This is principally a savings account with zero interest paid.

Also of note:
- No Android Pay support.
- No Apple Pay support.

Duncanwooly

The account does seem more expensive than others on the market. It is possible to "cover" those costs by shopping at certain retailers and availing of the cash back on offer, but other banks are also doing the same.

I read in the blurb that it's backed by one of the biggest banks in Ireland, does anyone know which one? I was thinking it was either AIB or Ulster banks as they already have some banking services at an post.

Delta2113

jamesthepeach wrote: »

This thing is far too complicated.
The wallets is a good idea but this account is full of limitations. Smacks of them trying to get you in at one price and then charging more later.

Besides, banks are going to be going back to free current accounts very soon.

Ptsb do a free current account.

PTSB don't do a FREE account anymore for New Customer's.

EBS Money Manager is the way too go as long as you can live without contactless card,mobile app,no cheque book,no overdraft.

EBS and Revolut combined can work well.

Duncanwooly

Who still uses cheques?

Delta2113

Duncanwooly wrote: »

Who still uses cheques?

I got some from my bank specifically to use with State Savings to purchase new bonds and certificates.

State Savings use cheques to pay Interest.

Okon

Duncanwooly wrote: »

Who still uses cheques?

I was behind an old lady in SuperValu two weeks ago who opened up a cheque book and wrote a cheque to pay for her groceries... it was the first time I'd seen anyone write a cheque in years.

Duncanwooly

Okon wrote: »

I was behind an old lady in SuperValu two weeks ago who opened up a cheque book and wrote a cheque to pay for her groceries... it was the first time I'd seen anyone write a cheque in years.

That's mad

Okon

Duncanwooly wrote: »

That's mad

I was raging as she was taking ages, and me with me three or four items!

OU812

Duncanwooly wrote: »

Who still uses cheques?

Have a cheque book specifically to pay school stuff. School doesn't accept CC, discourages cash & no online option. Total pain.

kbattlee

My husband opened an An Post Smart Account in July 17. He had a decent sum of money paid into his account from within the eurozone but the money just never arrived.
10 days later he called and An Post and they confirmed absolutely no money was lodged yet he had physical proof of the transaction. He went into an An Post branch to get help but they dont have any smart account reps in the offices at all ANYWHERE, the are only on the end of a phone. The An Post staff tried calling for him but the very kind lady was stonewalled.
He then called An Post again and they said they will get back to him, which they never did. Two days later he called again, to be told they have now found the funds and he should see them in a day or so.
Shocking... hes now too scared to put any funds in the account.
It is a cute account with bells and whistles but seems to have some very serious glitches to iron out.
Lets see if the funds do arrive. But i would be very hesitant to jump in and use these accounts properly for a few months.
Just our experience

JTMan

That's shocking, clearly they have payment routing issues and staff training issues. What made you open this expensive product in the first place?

kbattlee

It sounded great with the free contactless and wallets because they are easy to setup and separate funds for budgeting purposes. Bad move unfortunately, and we've learnt the hard way. The deadline they gave for the funds to reflect has come and gone too, so now its a wait and see situation again.

kbattlee

Update on missing funds: AN POST SMART ACCOUNT

Still no funds, turns out yesterdays promise of funds being found was an outright LIE. Shocking!!
We have called at least 4/5 times now over as many days and every day they seem to start from scratch investigating the matter.
I called again now and asked to speak to a supervisor. Bad experience as she was condescending and also caught herself out with a lie as she said she had no knowledge of my husbands issue and i must explain it, but then proceeded to tell me she had escalated the issue prior to taking my call. Wtf!!!
The basics are still no funds. No feedback. Not a single call or email with an update. No reference number to track. No idea of when this will be resolved. No offices/branches to go to for help. No idea what the actual issue really is. NOTHING
So i will say it again DO NOT PUT YOUR MONEY INTO THE AN POST SMART ACCOUNT
I asked for an email from Operations letting him know what is being done and he has just received this response:
"
Thank you for contacting our customer services department.

We would like to assure you that the issue regarding your missing funds is currently being looked into.

We will contact you as soon as we have further information.

Kind regards

Sarah Brown
An Post Card Services"

Donal55

kbattlee wrote: »

Update on missing funds: AN POST SMART ACCOUNT

Still no funds, turns out yesterdays promise of funds being found was an outright LIE. Shocking!!
We have called at least 4/5 times now over as many days and every day they seem to start from scratch investigating the matter.
I called again now and asked to speak to a supervisor. Bad experience as she was condescending and also caught herself out with a lie as she said she had no knowledge of my husbands issue and i must explain it, but then proceeded to tell me she had escalated the issue prior to taking my call. Wtf!!!
The basics are still no funds. No feedback. Not a single call or email with an update. No reference number to track. No idea of when this will be resolved. No offices/branches to go to for help. No idea what the actual issue really is. NOTHING
So i will say it again DO NOT PUT YOUR MONEY INTO THE AN POST SMART ACCOUNT
I asked for an email from Operations letting him know what is being done and he has just received this response:
"
Thank you for contacting our customer services department.

We would like to assure you that the issue regarding your missing funds is currently being looked into.

We will contact you as soon as we have further information.

Kind regards

Sarah Brown
An Post Card Services"

As bad as all the other banks are, at least ye get a lodgement/deposit slip from them.
Did your dad get one from them and has he got it?
It would resolve this matter fairly quickly.

Yggr of Asgard

a.) Ask the sender's bank to put a trace on it and to confirm it has actually reached AnPost's payment processor

b.) Call AnPost and tell them you want to log a formal complaint and get a complaint reference number

c.) Contact the Central Bank with the complaint reference number and ask them to check into this

d.) Contact the financial ombudsman with the complaint reference number. You can log a complaint online on their website. And as far as regulators go, they actually are very helpful in my experience.

Also if the payment was done less than 14 days ago the sender's bank could try to do a recall instead of a trace giving that there clearly is an issue with the credit.

kbattlee

Thank you that is great advice. Will do that now.

kbattlee

The funds were a bank deposit by another party, but yes we have their deposit confirmation and a bank statement showing it leaving their account.

kbattlee

Further Update on missing funds: AN POST SMART ACCOUNT
A full day later my husband has still not received funds or ANY form of communication/feedback from AnPost Smart Account representatives. NOTHING.
He called them now and they have confirmed that they definitely cant find the funds. It seems their "eurozone" payment processes have not been set up - either at all or properly.
So thats where we are at.
The sender has lodged a query with their bank and they are assisting us. I cant speak for AnPost and what they are or aren't doing because they are dead quiet on the matter.

Yggr of Asgard

You really should complain to the central bank!

JTMan

kbattlee wrote: »

He called them now and they have confirmed that they definitely cant find the funds. It seems their "eurozone" payment processes have not been set up - either at all or properly.

That is really really serious if true. An Post should not be operating a current account service in the state if they are not properly set up for SEPA payments from all Eurozone countries.

Agree with Yggr of Asgard, a complaint should be made to the Central Bank of Ireland.

kbattlee

He has emailed asking for a reference and letting them know that he will be lodging a formal complaint as Yggr of Asgard had suggested.

BarryD2

An Post management are great for bringing out fancy schemes and leafleting all the POs etc. I use An Post fairly regularly for post and recently saw details of some scheme where you could get a discount if you sent more than a certain value of packets/ parcels each week. Lot's of shiny info in local PO. Grand says I and ask at the counter - turns out it only applies to the Premium Service Express Post service for which they already charge extravagantly. So no use to us and very likely of no use to 99.9999% of customers in this particular PO anyway.

You get the impression that An Post management need a good shakeup and a dose of living in the real commercial world.

kevmac

Having similar problem.

It's taken 27 hours for a transfer from one SA to another SA!

This is second time it took as long.

I asked (UK) Help Team supervisor one simple question: "How long does it take to transfer from one account to another online - I presume it's instant?"

They said they didn't know and would have to ask head office!

Still waiting for an update.

ED E

Why would anyone open an account with AP who are amateur bankers when there are far better options about? Like use a CU if you need a branch, N26 etc if you dont.

Even Bank of Incompetence are a better choice.

Joe Duffy.

ED E wrote: »

Why would anyone open an account with AP

All the tv/radio advertising for it is brainwashing people:eek:

Director Of Finance

Worst account ever. I tried 5 times already to register for online banking and failed. Customer service are unable to help. I also applied for a bank statement and it looks terrible. It has no format whatsoever.

Delta2113

They have some neck charging €5 per month and pushing the account at old vulnerable people when collecting social welfare payments.

Joe Duffy.

This account is meant to be the saviour of an post

ED E

Joe Duffy. wrote: »

This account is meant to be the saviour of an post

Of Postmasters.

AP has a job, and does ok at it. This is for the Postmasters to "save rural villages". Spoiler:

It Wont

Joe Duffy.

ED E wrote: »

Of Postmasters.

AP has a job, and does ok at it. This is for the Postmasters to "save rural villages". Spoiler:

It Wont

I was listening the Sean O Rourke show some morning recently and you'd swear post offices cured cancer the way people were going on, Apparently all elderly people need a post office within walking distance of their front door

ED E

The ones in Limerick were great. "Oh no we closed one, but theres another 2.5 miles away, 4 miles away and 6 miles away".

Anyways, OT from the SmartStupidAccount

KELTICKNIGHTT

Was going to open smart account with an post but was put off by fees
60c per ATM transaction and 50c per transaction. Which makes an post smart account the most expensive account in Ireland but to top it off when you hear they loose someone funds and can't trace says STAY AWAY FROM ANPOST SMART ACCOUNT.
They won't last they way they going

.BrianJM

Isn't technology wonderful? Such a pity that SmartAccount doesn't maximise its use of the technology.
I have just received my first quarterly statement but...
...it's for the quarter ending 30 Sept. '17. Based on that, it's likely that the December statement will arrive beginning of March!?
~~~~~~~~~~~
As for fees: I'm not too bothered. Basically I use the account for receiving my pension and once a week withdraw most of it, leaving a little each week for electricity etc.

vectorvictor

.BrianJM wrote: »

Isn't technology wonderful? Such a pity that SmartAccount doesn't maximise its use of the technology.
I have just received my first quarterly statement but...
...it's for the quarter ending 30 Sept. '17. Based on that, it's likely that the December statement will arrive beginning of March!?
~~~~~~~~~~~
As for fees: I'm not too bothered. Basically I use the account for receiving my pension and once a week withdraw most of it, leaving a little each week for electricity etc.

You should try getting a statement out of KBC! Also a smart account holder, suits my needs and the fact that the post office is a stones throw away compared to a bus journey to nearest bank makes the convenience worth the cost. Averaging about 8-10 euro per month cash back so for my purposes it's free banking.

Liam5

I would advise people to stay clear of this An post Smartaccount.I signed up for an account last month as I wanted a separate account from my Bank of Ireland account for Internet purchases and I have had problems from day one.Despite contacting customer services 5 times via email and phone calls my card is blocked from Internet use.When you make an online purchase you are asked to enter Master code which is registered as an extra layer of security.the problem is every time I put my code in I get a notice saying it is incorrect when in fact the code is correct and the card is then locked and cannot be used.Only customer services can unlock the card.Each time this has happened I contacted them and they say they have unlocked the card but when I go online to use the card the same thing happens.Customer services appear to be extremely limited in their understanding on the system.I attempted to move money from this account back to my Bank of Ireland account and simply close this smartaccount but when I tried to do this I got a notice stating my BOI IBAN number was invalid I immediately contacted BOI and they confirmed the IBAN was correct.This service is absolute rubbish and customer services appear not to be able to resolve problems.

vectorvictor

Liam5 wrote: »

This service is absolute rubbish and customer services appear not to be able to resolve problems.

I have had this account pretty much since launch and while I have never had an IBAN or Securecode issue like yourself, I can relate to the customer service problem. This account is basically a white label account powered by a UK fintech company (they provide alot of credit unions in the UK with their technology). Therefore the customer support team are not An Post they are agents who could be answering the phone to customers of any number of "banks". Their knowledge is pretty appalling however the result of using a third party provider is an offering that An Post would never have been able to deliver on their own.

For anyone considering this account, my experience is:

The good :

• Pretty good online interface with good options for scheduling payments etc.
• SEPA payments are ridiculously quick, as in a matter of hours, they seem to clear down batches hourly as opposed to most banks where once or twice a day is the norm
• Text notifications of incoming payments (cost 5cent each optional)
• The app is easy to use and has all of the options of the online interface
• The "quick lodge" feature is really handy. You can topup the account with a debit card which is handy if you use this account in conjunction with something like N26

The bad:

• Really expensive compared to the alternatives. As I live directly opposite a post office and the nearest bank is miles away, the trade off is worth it for me and I generally make back the fees in Lidl cashback
• Customer service is not clued in
• I don't "trust it" as much as I would an account with a real bank. A handful of times I've logged in and gotten incorrect balances, out of sync transactions. Refreshing the page then displays the correct details
• It's run by An Post who have a habit of launching products and ditching them when they don't pay off. I can't see them gaining any real traction with this offering so unless their deal with the third party provider is ridiculously cheap, I don't know if I'd expect this account to be around in 3 years time.

.BrianJM

Agree with 'vectorvictor' and would add;
. not yet mobile friendly but workable (Windows phone).
. Would be more useful if linked to An Post deposit account. Maybe a work in progress :rolleyes:
. outgoing payment notifications need improving.

Error messages associated with bank codes and passwords are, in my experience, most likely correct. e.g. at initial use an incorrect code is entered and that is what is in the computer system. Also, I have the impression that their system is a bit slow and not good at buffering input, so it is easy to type too quickly.

CollyFlower

Why would anyone want this Account? It's an absolute ripoff, you're being charged for everything, even a bank account won't charge fees if you use it right.

Liam5

I have closed the account as its not fit for purpose.

mikeisabike

Hi, new to boards, never even posted on a forum before, but thought this would be my best option in getting a response. I've had a smart account since November, while I can agree it is extortionate, as someone who is unemployed, lost my old bank account and hence doesn't get many proofs of address to set up an account elsewhere this seemed like the best option going.

I really don't know if I'm just totally out of the loop when it comes to banking but, I'm being placed on the Tús scheme and I'm trying to fill out my banking information as I'll only be getting paid via electronic transfer and while I have my BIC, my IBAN and the rest, I cannot for the life of me find a bank account number. On the form I'm filling out for Tús its stated as an 8 digit code, the closest thing I have to it is a User ID number, which is 10 digits. I even went into the post office today and asked what my number is, their response was to give me a mini statement and that my number would be at the very top, it's not.. It's just a bic and iban, I really cant figure out if I'm really just that daft or that its very suspicious people don't have actual account numbers. No information on the website, a lack of response from customer service, so if anyone can please enlighten me it would be very much appreciated.

JTMan

The Tús scheme should only ask for your IBAN. Not your account number.

mikeisabike

JTMan wrote: »

The Tús scheme should only ask for your IBAN. Not your account number.

On the form I have it’s asked of me? I was also guessing that maybe it’s not even needed cuz when people have transfer money to me before they asked what my bic and iban were.

JTMan

BIC is not needed anymore.

Before the days of IBAN's, account numbers were used, it sounds like the Tus form is old. Simply write your IBAN above the box and tell Tus that their form is dated and old.

gerard2210

Your account number is the last 8 digits of the iban number

mikeisabike

JTMan wrote: »

BIC is not needed anymore.

Before the days of IBAN's, account numbers were used, it sounds like the Tus form is old. Simply write your IBAN above the box and tell Tus that their form is dated and old.

Hahah I will do and thanks for your help!