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.
The KBC one actually works though. And backend processes happen much more quickly
BOIs app based 2fa authentication may decide not to prompt you or let you find a missing prompt multiple times in a row whereas KBCs SMS version always works.
Opening a new product via the KBC app worked and was done immediately if suitable for that product, there are delays and multiple stages with BOI.
BOI had a separate website (not an app) that gave decent credit card functionality but it's now gone. Takes up to a week to show credit card transactions on the app!
If you don't want to go / go back to BOI, the other offerings are anywhere between poor and exceptionally poor too; AIB probably the best.
I'm both a bank of Ireland customer and a KBC customer I know full well what the experience is like with both. I've had similar same experience with any products. I never applied to BOI because their rates were crap not due to service. I had an abysmal mortgage time with KBC with finger pointing throughout the mortgage approval team for months. Swings and roundabouts. But I disagree on the customer experience charge being leveled at BOI.
Anyhow none of that has any impact on this person's fixed term. They can break fee or wait . There's no cost to them .
I signed up to those T&Cs with KBC not BOI. I do not want to have my mortgage with BOI. I should not be penalised and have to pay a breakage fee for being moved to a bank that I don't want to do business with.
Hahaha. If only things worked that way.
You evidently haven't actually read the terms and conditions maybe suggest you do actually do that. Your mortgage is a liability to be traded at will, the owners can be varied.. whatever friendly relationship you think you had with KBC only exists in your mind .
I have no allegiance to KBC but have had poor dealings in the past with BOI. You’re right, I haven’t read the T&Cs but generally when companies change their terms, customers are given the opportunity to exit the agreement eg virgin price increases etc. it’s a pretty big change when a product is taken over by another company, so it would make sense that this would/should be given as an option. Where does it say in any banking conditions that they can sell performing loans, I understood it was just for non-performing loans?
Look up collateralised debt obligation.
Your mortgage is just a pool of liability. Performing or not it's a liability and has a market value.
You signed a contract with terms that included the right of the lender to transfer the debt to third parties. If that was not what you wanted, then you should not have signed the contract.
You don't get to make it up as you go along. The law assumes you are an adult capable of acting in your own interests. You signed a contact that included an option for the lender to transfer the loan to third parties at their discretion. No terms have been broken or changed, the lender is acting on the contact that you agreed to and signed up to. In future read the contracts you are signing up to in detail and if you don't understand get someone to explain it to you.
Not appreciating the aggro here tbh. I asked a question, outlining what I thought was reasonable with other contracts I have signed, and have received some pretty passive aggressive responses. I, like many people, didn't read the terms and conditions for the mortgage as I didn't envisage this situation of KBC leaving Ireland happening. I'm not trying to make it up as I go along. I was just trying to find clarity. I doubt if I had asked someone to explain it to me they would have explicitly stated that the bank could sell my mortgage on without my knowledge. I'll ask a financial advisor and see if he mentions it
What's a financial advisor going to confirm to you that hasn't already been said.
Im pretty surprised someone hasn't read the terms of their mortgage. Genuinely... You have a copy of it btw you could read it today.
If you wait, your mortgage will be swtiched to BOI as that is what KBC want & they are leaving. But if you change before they leave, you will have the choice of who you move to. The actually timing of exactly when they leave is currently unknown. All you can do is assess & see what works best for your particular situation. KBC have a decent rates esp with the current account so it could be worth waiting to see if other banks introduce moving offers to get some of this business before you move. You'll get all kinds of responses here so don't be taking anything too personal.
I was referencing the fact that I doubt it would have been something that a financial advisor would explicitly explain whilst advising you on mortgages. I don't doubt it's in the contract so my query has been answered. I signed it and have no issues meeting my obligations. I just didn't want it to come under BOI as I find them painful to deal with
My plan is to check the market next year when my fixed terms up. Won't have to deal with BOI mortgage team till then . So not concerned. Market has good rates out there right now
Your Virgin analogy is flawed. This situation is more like if Virgin decided to get out of the consumer TV business, and sold off that department to Sky. In that case, the customer would not be entitled to exit the agreement (without some other material change to the T&Cs)
No aggression intended, but you can see why so many people are saying the same to you. Mortgage is a big commitment, so you can't justify not reading T&C properly and just make random accusations like 'where does it say in any banking conditions blah blah'. It is in *every single bank's* T&C's for any kind of loans.
BOI/KBC may give you the option of breaking your T&C without a penalty, but it's up to their goodwill. As long as you are paying the same rate (if you are on fixed rate mortgage), there is nothing you can do.
(And btw I agree BOI is a pain to deal with. Dealing with them always makes me feel we are still living in the 20th century.)
Anyone doing the explaining would be unlikely to mention it as they would not expect anyone to care about they point. Mortgages are sold all the time.
BOI are horrible to deal with. Always have been.
Vote with your feet and move. Plenty of better options out there for mortgages, and also for current accounts.
I was trying to do that. Unfortunately I’m going to have to deal with them for the next few years. I’ve no issue regarding my mortgage rate/payments, it’s just that I’ll now have to deal with this shower…You can guarantee there will be plenty of issues their end
I have approval in principle with KBC and have gone sale agreed on a place in the last couple of weeks. Am I mad to draw down the mortgage with them? Are new mortgages the type of thing that will be cut off overnight with no warning, or will there be some notice?
No they're business as usual currently. Proceed on as usual tbh. Once your mortgage is in and your paying you may never ever have to contact them again unless your looking to switch or coming to end of fixed terms. So frankly I wouldn't be super worried about how long a phone call is. It's a rare thing to have to contact the bank in relation to an active mortgage. I havent spoke to KBC in years no idea how that would change with BOI ....
Great, thank you! Tbh I don’t care so much about breakage fees or whatever down the line- I mean I care, but not as much as just getting the mortgage for the cheapest rate right now. Have just gotten fresh AIP this week too so I think they have to honour that.
Agreed. Your pressing concern is getting a good deal right now and finds and moving on.
For me, the annoying thing is having our mortgage moved to a bank that has/had poor mortgage rates. While no one can predict the future, the odds were good that KBC would remain reasonably competitive, reducing the need to switch and pay all of the associated costs again.
Just FYI, Approval in Principle is just that. They have zero obligation to provide actual approval much less give you the mortgage money just because you have it. There is no commitment for them to honour.
Nothing to stop you getting AIP from another lender. The purchase process will take some time. When I bought I used AIP from one bank but eventually went with another lender.
Has anyone started the process or moved banks yet?
I don’t know if I’m getting ahead of myself but was thinking it might be better to get the ball rolling now rather than wait and have to try open new accounts when there could be Ulster Bank and KBC customers looking to sign up with a new bank.
I was going to use my N26 account but they don’t offer a joint account and need a savings account so was considering AIB. Fees shouldn’t be too bad as it’ll be mostly used for our wages coming in and direct debits going out. Day to day spending is done with Revolut.
why would you move now? this doesnt appear that it will be a quick process. no point paying fees when you currently dont have to pay them. thats my thinking on it, ill hold out as long as possible.
The only advantage of switching now is to get ahead of the crowd. There is going to be hoards of switching early next year by UB and KBC customers. The sheer volume of switching next year and the transfer of payment data might lead to delays and maybe issues.
It is also worth point out the the reason that KBC and UB are exiting the market is because it has not proved to be profitable for them. Some people may discover that the other banks are not welcoming and they may only be offered the minimum services required under the EU directive. So my advice is better sooner than later, so that all the hiccups can be sorted out early.