Money Guide Ireland

In recent months there have been rumours of banks in trouble . After Northern Rock’s problems last year – savers are finding out that the money they have in deposit accounts may not be as safe as they think in the event of a bank getting into trouble.

Irish banks are covered by the Deposit Guarantee Scheme which is administered by the Financial Regulator. Under this scheme – if a financial institution goes “under” – account holders will get 90pc of their deposits back but only up to a maximum of €20,000.
Be aware – that If you have money in several different accounts in the same bank, the €20,000 compensation limit applies to the overall amount on deposit. Joint accounts are proected up to €40000.

Credit Union savings are not covered by this scheme – and in fact there is no guarantee of any sort on Credit Uniion accounts – just a discretionary one .

Northern Rock is now guaranteed by the British government and so is probably one of the safer places to put your money. This guarantee may not last for ever.

An Post deposits (not Postbank) are guaranteed by the Irish Government

Savings in Rabobank are covered by a Dutch scheme, which guarantees 100% on the first €20,000 and 90pc of the next €20,000. So for deposits over €40,000, you would get back €38,000. (In an Irish bank you would get just 20k)

NEW – 100k Limit from Sat 20th September – Read More

National Irish Bank, part of Danske Bank, is covered by the Danish compensation scheme. This guarantees payment of about €40,000 (300k Danish Krone)

Allied Irish Bank has increased several of their savings rates from today (15th July). The two best rates they offer now are 5.25% on their online savings account and 10.25% on the Parent Saver account.
AIB have also put up mortgage rates by 0.25%.
See our Best Buys on Savings Accounts and Mortgage Rates.

Anglo Irish Bank have launched a new savings account today called “Premium Demand Account”
The deposit account pays interest of 5.3% gross/AER/variable (with a minimum ECB +0.5% rate guarantee until 1st January 2009*) on balances up to and including €20,000.
An interest rate of 4.5% (with a minimum ECB rate guarantee until 1st January 2009*) is applied to accounts with balances greater than €20,000.
Access to funds is on demand and accounts can be opened by post, in branch or online. No minimum amount is mentioned.
See our list of the best interest rates on instant access accounts.

After a few more rate increases this month from Ulster and First Active we have updated our Mortgage Best Buys. With the ECB rate rise yeaterday to 4.25% – all the lenders will be increasing their tracker rates in the next 2 weeks. It is possible that variable rates may well rise again – although some lenders may have factored in the 0.25% rate increase already.
For loans under 80% of the house value – NIB are still offering the lowest tracker rates in Ireland – bar none.
The market for trackers on higher LTV’s is bit more competitive – as is the fixed rate market. Find out who has the lowest mortgage rates here.