KBC exiting Ireland

zell12

KBC seeking to sell its assets to Bank Of Ireland and vacate.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/kbc-seeks-to-quit-republic-with-planned-loan-sales-to-bank-of-ireland-1.4539135
KBC Group has signalled it is seeking to quit the Republic after more than four decades.
It is planning to sell its performing loans and deposits to Bank of Ireland, reducing the number of retail banks in the country to three.

lawrencesummers

Bad news for the consumer.

Good news for revolut.

zell12

Revolut don't do loans or mortgages

RebelButtMunch

Poo. I've always liked their app. I left ptsb to join kbc thinking they are more tech progressive.

lassykk

zell12 wrote: »

Revolut don't do loans or mortgages

Or offer any deposit guarantee scheme

I love revolut by the way just they don't offer any security for anything over what I'm willing to pay online

zell12

zell12 wrote: »

Revolut don't do loans or mortgages

They will

Peterd66

Another bank driven out by Central Bank policy and approach and a warning to any new lenders thinking about entering the market.

Hoboo

zell12 wrote: »

Revolut don't do loans or mortgages

So bad news for the consumer. Good news for Revolut.

Dempo1

B*****X

Fantastic bank and excellent App. Can't belive this, I'd hoped they at least continued with digital retail banking given they don't have a branch network.

Will have to shop around but don't want to go near PTSB, BOI or AIB.

Need an account that has a good app for managing account.

Sad, Sad news, I've been with them from the start.

retalivity

Ffs, I've all my banking with them including my mortgage, after leaving BOI who are useless.
So only 3 banks left, all of which are somewhat govt owned

Dempo1

Just curious, I know little about Revolut. Is their app full service, I mean can you transfer, set up direct debits, Payee's etc I do pretty much everything with the KBC app, thanks for
Any advice.

Weepsie

Bank of ireland were the last ee wanted our mortgage with so that's ****e

McGiver

Very bad. There's literally no competition here. There's gonna be rip-off again, fees etc. Three banks....

I'm from a larger market, albeit only twice as large, and we've got 20 commercial banks minimum. They all offer free current accounts. The shift happened 10-12 years ago when a new player entered the market, disrupted it, people started pushing for free accounts voting with their feet, it was all over the media and the other banks just had to adapt. Fast forward, it's absolutely unacceptable for any bank charging fees for current accounts now, and anyone trying so would be laughed at.

Just a story of why competition is good.

Bobeagleburger

N26 a safer bet than Revolut imo. It's a German bank licenced by the German central bank.

godtabh

The consequence of not been able to call in loans if people default

dashoonage

Revolut aren’t under the deposit guarantee scheme either are they ?

Feck sake, I just moved to KBC from Ulster Bank

shanec1928

Great news... not stuck with zero choice. The last of the banks to offer free banking. Don’t bother saying EBS they haven’t left the 90s yet

cruizer101

Thats not good, I'd been planning moving to them since and currently with Ulster.
Leaves very little competition in the market.

zell12

shanec1928 wrote: »

Don’t bother saying EBS they haven’t left the 90s yet

EBS are part of AIB, which bought it for one euro in 2011

Smee_Again

Feck sake, not a lot of choice out there now.

Busi_Girl08

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Feck sake, I just moved to KBC from Ulster Bank

Same. Have an AIP with them and all.

Sarn

It looks like a lot of us will be going full circle, with the limited choice that will be left.

Dempo1

Ceo of kbc on morning Ireland shortly

lawred2

Ah feck.. been with KBC for a long while now.

okidoki987

That's a disaster for Irish consumers.
No real choice now and the 3 Irish banks will jack up charges when they know they have the market to themselves.

lawred2

The decision has already been made to sell to BOI?

Would have thought that maybe Avant would have been interested!?

Dempo1

My impression after ceo"s interview is BOI approached KBC about a take over?

AndrewJRenko

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Feck sake, I just moved to KBC from Ulster Bank

Join the club. I moved from PTSB late last year for the free fees, and finally, finally got the very last step - additional credit card for herself - sorted just last feckin night, and I wake up to this news.

What a PITA.

cruizer101

Dempo1 wrote: »

My impression after ceo"s interview is BOI approached KBC about a take over?

Yeah he seemed to imply they got an offer which made financial sense for them.

Supercell

N26 are great, i have an account with them as well as KBC, only problem is their German IBAN can cause issues at times for example switching electrical providers to Bord Gais they would only accept an Irish IBAN on their website.
Its a PITA but will be switching over fully to N26 once they turn off the lights.

berocca2016

lassykk wrote: »

Or offer any deposit guarantee scheme

I love revolut by the way just they don't offer any security for anything over what I'm willing to pay online

They're covered by Lithuania's banking guarantee scheme up to 100k.

Hoboo

Dempo1 wrote: »

My impression after ceo"s interview is BOI approached KBC about a take over?

I'm not surprised, they could do without the KBC headache for their plans, last thing you need is a superior product or service that charges/costs next to nothing.

lawred2

Dempo1 wrote: »

My impression after ceo"s interview is BOI approached KBC about a take over?

Are BoI still not part owned by the state?

So is the Irish government ok with a move to reduce competition?

Infini

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Feck sake, I just moved to KBC from Ulster Bank

Moved from AIB myself after the feckers ended their free banking policy last year. Bloody Joke that they're pulling out now all of a sudden. I suppose there is N26 if needs be but the Irish Banks will definately start acting the bollocks if its just the 3 of them left here.

Bobeagleburger

Do Revolut have a banking licence?

Bob24

They are the only decent all-rounder Irish bank standing :-/

Ok mortgage rates, ok (to 2021 standards) saving rates, OK App and tech, and free banking.

Clearing not good for consumers! The likes of N26 is fine as a current account replacement, but lacking many banking services that everyone will need at one stage in their life.

Busi_Girl08

lawred2 wrote: »

Are BoI still not part owned by the state?

So is the Irish government ok with a move to reduce competition?

Paschal will be on RTE shortly. Will be interesting to see what that response is.

Hoboo

berocca2016 wrote: »

They're covered by Lithuania's banking guarantee scheme up to 100k.

If you're in Lithuania. They use an ebanking licence here, so we are not covered

Bob24

godtabh wrote: »

The consequence of not been able to call in loans if people default

Exactly right. The government and the CBI will never admit it, but their policies in this area are driving away any foreign competition and forcing the majority of borrowers who are decent people to pay higher rates in order to keep the banks afloat as they have no recourses against a minority of chancers.

Infini

Hoboo wrote: »

If you're in Lithuania. They use an ebanking licence here, so we are not covered

I wouldnt recommend Revolut as a full time current account as while they're fine for small change and lower scale payments I wouldnt want to be caught out if something goes wrong and the account is locked. N26 tho would do the job as its a full bank. Im not paying these vultures to hold my money so if it comes to it ill reopen an account with N26.

PCros

For people wondering about Revolut...

https://www.bonkers.ie/blog/banking/is-your-money-safe-with-revolut/

Basically no guarantee at all but the money is held by JP Morgan and Revolut have no access to it. But if JP Morgan went bust aswell then that's a different story.

howiya

lawred2 wrote: »

Are BoI still not part owned by the state?

So is the Irish government ok with a move to reduce competition?

14% shareholding so it doesn't really matter what the government think. They'd be outvoted by other shareholders. Plus the value of that shareholding will most likely increase on the news.

lawred2

howiya wrote: »

14% shareholding so it doesn't really matter what the government think. They'd be outvoted by other shareholders. Plus the value of that shareholding will most likely increase on the news.

A vested interest in reduced competition.

Very Irish.

Hoboo

Infini wrote: »

I wouldnt recommend Revolut as a full time current account as while they're fine for small change and lower scale payments I wouldnt want to be caught out if something goes wrong and the account is locked. N26 tho would do the job as its a full bank.

I agree, I use both. Transfer to Revolut as I need. Used the ATM once with Revolut and the cash didn't come out, took 2 weeks to get back in my account. Was fine because I have other cards and cash but I remember a time when that's all I might have had and I'd have been screwed.

Busi_Girl08

I have an AIP with KBC, in the last week or so they very quickly shut up shop on LTI exceptions and according to our broker will be launching a new underwriting calculator from Monday making it nearly impossible for anyone to get a decent mortgage. This explains why.

cms88

Bob24 wrote: »

Exactly right. The government and the CBI will never admit it, but their policies in this area are driving away any foreign competition and forcing the majority of borrowers who are decent people to pay higher rates in order to keep the banks afloat as they have no recourses against a minority of chancers.

Not the mention a number of political parties and the general public of course

lawrencesummers

lawred2 wrote: »

Are BoI still not part owned by the state?

So is the Irish government ok with a move to reduce competition?

The problem with the Gov owning a portion of BOI is that the less competition in the market the more profitable BOI can be therefore the greater return the government can get from BOI.

So less competition is bad for the consumer, but it’s good for the state. Go figure.

shanec1928

zell12 wrote: »

EBS are part of AIB, which bought it for one euro in 2011

if you have seen ebs so called online banking you will get the comment. my local credit union has better online services then them

lawred2

Hoboo wrote: »

I agree, I use both. Transfer to Revolut as I need. Used the ATM once with Revolut and the cash didn't come out, took 2 weeks to get back in my account. Was fine because I have other cards and cash but I remember a time when that's all I might have had and I'd have been screwed.

Are the N26 business accounts protected by the deposit scheme in Ireland?

10000maniacs

I really can't blame these banks for pulling out of Ireland. Too much government interference and too much legislation to allow people to hold onto their houses even if they default on their mortgage. If they can't make a profit under these circumstances, why stay in this market. Reposession is virtually impossible and can take years.