Free Banking - who has the best deal

m_stan

Seems like Ulster Bank, NIB, PTSB etc all have different deals when it comes to no-fee current accounts. Anyone know who has the best on offer. I'm looking for:

ATM/Laser/Cirrus card
Cheque book (gov fee I know)
Online banking
As low a minimum balance as possible

And all for free. I will be able to keep my account in credit, but I would prefer not to have to keep it Eur 500 in credit like you have to with Uslter Bank.

Thanks !

HelterSkelter

I'm with NIB and find them very good:

No transaction charges
No Quarterly Fee
No min balance
ATM/Laser card in one
Online Banking
Cheque Book (although I didn't take this option)
Credit Card (didn't take this option either)

I used to be with AIB and got sick of their charges which I consider to be them charging me to use my money to lend to other people and charge them!! What a rip-off.

CCOVICH

This might be of some use when making comparisons

http://www.ifsra.ie/data/cr_costsur_files/Personal%20current%20account%20charges-%20issue%203.pdf

secret_squirrel

CCOVICH wrote:

http://www.ifsra.ie/data/cr_costsur_files/Personal%20current%20account%20charges-%20issue%203.pdf

HOLY Crap! - Im getting shafted by Ulster Bank.

Excellent link.

biko

CCOVICH wrote:

This might be of some use when making comparisons

http://www.ifsra.ie/data/cr_costsur_files/Personal%20current%20account%20charges-%20issue%203.pdf

Hmm, seems I should switch from BOI to P-TSB.

Drag00n79

secret_squirrel wrote:

HOLY Crap! - Im getting shafted by Ulster Bank.

Excellent link.

Me too. They seem to charge for everything — and usually way more than anymore else! :eek:

KNS

Probably one of the best things i learned from one of my lecturers in college - don't tell the bank you're finished college. No bank charges.

Five years since i left and i don't have any plans to apply for a mortgage or anything like that so hopefully the old student account will keep going!!!

shamalive

NIB seems to be the best alright, only need a balance of 1 cent to avoid fees,
I kept my old BOI a/c though, (for the overdraft facility),
as the NIB free a/c doesnt offer this facility.

egan007

shamalive wrote:

NIB seems to be the best alright, only need a balance of 1 cent to avoid fees,
I kept my old BOI a/c though, (for the overdraft facility),
as the NIB free a/c doesnt offer this facility.

To me it looks like TSB have it sewn up

skywalker

KNS wrote:

Probably one of the best things i learned from one of my lecturers in college - don't tell the bank you're finished college. No bank charges.

Five years since i left and i don't have any plans to apply for a mortgage or anything like that so hopefully the old student account will keep going!!!

Im 3 years going strong since I finished college, long may it continue.

Gegerty

shamalive wrote:

NIB seems to be the best alright, only need a balance of 1 cent to avoid fees,
I kept my old BOI a/c though, (for the overdraft facility),
as the NIB free a/c doesnt offer this facility.

Whats the balance needed for P-TSB? And how can you go below 1cent with NIB if there's no overdraft facility? Do they take you off the free account and on to the standard and give you an overdraft without asking you?

shamalive

Gegerty wrote:

Whats the balance needed for P-TSB? And how can you go below 1cent with NIB if there's no overdraft facility? Do they take you off the free account and on to the standard and give you an overdraft without asking you?

Not sure about PTSB balance,
but with NIB if you go below 1 cent,
you get charged as per standard a/c for that quarter,
and need to get your balance sorted back above zero
as there is no official overdraft with the free a/c.

m_stan

shamalive wrote:

you get charged as per standard a/c for that quarter,

yeah, and that's for the full qtr - not just the time you were 'overdrawn' for. easy for that to happen, and then for your banking to be as expensive as anywhere else. unless you're loaded and you're never going below 1c in balance, or you keep a very very close eye on things.

disillusioned

sometimes threatening to close your a/c(s) will result in fees being waived. it worked for me with AIB and they've given me 18 months free banking.

kkennedy

disillusioned wrote:

sometimes threatening to close your a/c(s) will result in fees being waived. it worked for me with AIB and they've given me 18 months free banking.

Not for me. I told AIB to close my account, after 15 years banking. Asked why did I want to close my account, I said because of the charges. OK the guys said, tapped in to his computer and then said" there is €3.70 charges owing on that account." I had to pay to close my account.

disillusioned

kkennedy wrote:

Not for me. I told AIB to close my account, after 15 years banking. Asked why did I want to close my account, I said because of the charges. OK the guys said, tapped in to his computer and then said" there is €3.70 charges owing on that account." I had to pay to close my account.

Whoah, that's really harsh. I guess I must be a more desirable client than you huh?!

kkennedy

disillusioned wrote:

Whoah, that's really harsh. I guess I must be a more desirable client than you huh?!

Dunno, I was also getting a 200K mortgage, but they were unable to match UlsterBanks Tracker. Glad I pulled out. Ripoff

FergusF

disillusioned wrote:

sometimes threatening to close your a/c(s) will result in fees being waived. it worked for me with AIB and they've given me 18 months free banking.

This worked for me once with BOI; after 5 years of post - college free banking they finally wrote me a letter asking for proof I was still a student, or they would have to start charging me. So I met with the branch manager, saying I was off to another bank that offered free banking - in a few minutes they had changed me to a free account, one of those post-grad ones I believe.

This lasted another ~2 years before they wrote again threatening me with fees. This time the manager was not so helpful, it seems they no longer have discretion and are much more controlled by head office now. Not only would he not waive the fees, he had the cheek to try to sell me a gold credit card with a hefty annual fee.

So I closed my a/c there after ~15 years, and opened a free one with NIB, haven't had any problems with them so far. I kept my C/C with BOI, always pay off the balance each month so they don't get a cent from me now, the tight bar stewards!

RainyDay

shamalive wrote:

NIB seems to be the best alright, only need a balance of 1 cent to avoid fees,
I kept my old BOI a/c though, (for the overdraft facility),
as the NIB free a/c doesnt offer this facility.

Actually, NIB will provide an overdraft on their Freebank account if you ask nicely, though it has fairly punitive fees attached, so you'd only want to be using it as a very last resort.

masterK

KNS wrote:

Probably one of the best things i learned from one of my lecturers in college - don't tell the bank you're finished college. No bank charges.

Five years since i left and i don't have any plans to apply for a mortgage or anything like that so hopefully the old student account will keep going!!!

I'm finished college nearly 9 years and still have a student account. I've never heard a work from BOI and have never paid a cent in charges. I even have a mortgage with them and have had car loans in the past.

esperanza

KNS wrote:

Probably one of the best things i learned from one of my lecturers in college - don't tell the bank you're finished college. No bank charges.

Five years since i left and i don't have any plans to apply for a mortgage or anything like that so hopefully the old student account will keep going!!!

I'm in the same boat, I never told my bank I was finished. If they ever ask, I can easily say I'm still a student - abroad. But they're hardly going to bother their asses, are they? They've got more important things to be doing than chasing former students!