Banks are always trying to attract students with various offers and  incentives. The banks know that once they get a customer  – the majority will remain with the same bank for many years to come.
The big three Irish banks AIB , Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank all have special deals to try and attract  students

Ulster Bank -  offer an Interest-free overdraft of upto €1500. You must be an existing customer with a current account with Ulster Bank for 12 months to apply for a student overdraft of up to €750 or you must be in receipt of a grant to receive up to €1,500 (dependent on your grant level).
Ulster Bank issue  Visa Debit cards- which is another good reason to choose Ulster Bank. (Much easier for online shopping) . Ulster offer Free banking for all – including students.

Bank of Ireland is offering a free return flight to new third-level students who open an account with them. The flights leave from Dublin and Cork to London, Paris, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Stockholm, Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam and Rome. Students have to open an account before October  31st 2011  and then use the account ten times before the end of October 2011.
BOI offer interest free overdrafts for the first 9 months – in case your grant payment is delayed.. BOI banking is free for students – but beware of the charges BOI  make once your student day are over.

AIB are offering a voucher for a free student travelcard (worth €12). They also offer interst free overdrafts of up to €1500

Mortgage lending in Ireland has fallen dramatically since the height of the property boom.
The number of Irish mortgage lenders has fallen – with the loss of Halifax , Bank of Scotland , Irish Nationwide.
A few mortgage providers in Ireland are actively advertising  their mortgage products – they are KBC ,  Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland.
There are reports that a high percantage of mortgage applicants are getting refused – and criteria are much stricter than they were a couple of years ago.

How Much of a Mortgage Will You Get?

KBC say the  maximum mortgage they will give  is 90% of the property value.
They also say that as a general rule, mortgages are subject to monthly repayments of up to a maximum of 50% of disposable income and will vary according to individual circumstances.  Disposable income will be take home pay less any other loan repayments.

Bank Of Ireland say they will lend a maximum of  92% of the property value.  The BOI website is confusing though – it states “ as a general rule, loan amounts are subject to monthly repayments not exceeding 4/5 times an individual’s gross annual income are considered, and will vary according to individual circumstances. “
It looks like a typo – and probably means that the loan will not exceed 5 times gross income.

Allied Irish Bank have a maximum loan to value of  92% of purchase price or valuation whichever is lower.  AT AIB  lending levels are subject to monthly repayment burden, typically not exceeding  35% of borrowers disposable income and will vary according to individual circumstances.

NIB State that borrowing is subject to 40% of net income being available to meet capital and interest loan repayments, and is subject to a 2% interest stress test.

EBS - say the maximum loan to property value with EBS  is 90%  As a general rule the loan amount should not exceed 3 times the main income or 3 times the joint incomes (in the case of two earners)

On the BOI website they have  a mortgage calculator where you can see how much you might be able to borrow. If you enter a single income of €3600 – it calculates that the maximum mortgage you could get is €162000 euro. (It works out at 4.5 times gross salary) That would be enough to cover 90% of a house worth €180,000 – (leaving a deposit to be found of €18,000) .  The  monthly  repayments on a €162000 mortgage over 25 years at  3.54% APR   would be €809

The KBC mortgage calculator came back with a maximum mortgage of just €143,397 with a single income of €36000 a year. But there may be a problem with their online calculator – because an income of €39999 resulted in a max mortgage of €196,629 while a €40000 income resulted in a mortgage figure of  €181,455

In general terms – to be accepted for a mortgage offer you will need to be permanently employed in  “sustainable employment”. Banks will only lend if they believe your employer will be around in 12 months’ time or more.

If you are self-employed – you will need to have been trading for a minimum of two years.

If you are in contract employment or temporary employment other than in the medical profession, it will be difficult to secure a mortgage.
You also need to have evidence of savings built up over a at least a 12-month period to demonstrate your ability to make the repayments.  A big gift from a parent may not be enough.

If you are renting  , banks will consider paying rent as similar to saving.

AIB today completed the acquisition of EBS, which was announced by  Finance Minister Michael Noonan on March 31 .  He said that that the two institutions would be  merged to form one of two ‘pillar’ banks.

The new EBS entity will be called EBS Limited, which will operate as a separately branded subsidiary of AIB with its own branch network.

Every share account in, and deposit with, EBS Building Society will become a deposit of the same amount with EBS Limited . AIB said EBS customers could continue to carry out their business as usual.

AIB also said today that the €100,000 deposit guarantee scheme protection would apply to EBS and AIB customers separately. The Eligible Liabilities Guarantee Scheme (ELG) guarantees all deposits in the participating institutions over the €100,000 limit.

This time of year in Ireland – many Catholic children get given cash gifts for their Communion or Confirmation.  A recent survey found that the average amount was €463.
Hopefully – with the help of parents – they will try and save some or all of the money instead of spending it all.
Starting a savings account for a child is a good way of getting them in the habit of putting money aside for the future.

Most of the banks  (that are still in business) offer special accounts aimed at children. To open an account for children under 7 you will usually have to open it in the name of the adult, with child’s name noted.
For children between 7 and 12 you usually have three options for the account – it can be :

a) in the name of the adult, with child’s name noted.

b  in the name of both the adult and the child

c)  in the name of the child only
PTSB pay 3% on their Safari Saver account

Ulster Bank have a  Henri Hippo account for children under the age of 11. They get a free Henri moneybox to save up odd change inbetween visits to the bank. Interest is 2.31 % AER.

Allied Irish Bank  (AIB) has a  ‘junior saver’ account which allows a parent to open an account on behalf of their child.  They get  a free €10 in the account  to get them started and interest  of 1.26%  currently.

Bank of Ireland have a  Young Savers Account  for children aged seven to 12  - but they pay no interest on it.

An Post have Cyril the Squirrel to try and attract child savers Interest at 1%

Credit unions are also worth considering for children. New accounts get €10 when they open an account. Somet credit unions will offer a 2 per cent deposit account to young savers with a minimum requirement of keeping the money in the account for 12 months.

Figures correct  May 2011

It has been revealed in the AIB accounts that the former AIB managing director Colm Doherty received a pay package totalling more than €3 million when he resigned in November 2010.

It will probably anger many Irish people that a chief executive of an organisation which made a €12 billion loss could walk away with a €3 million pay package.

AIB recently announced that more than 2,000 bank workers are to be made redundant. There seems to be one rule for those at the very top who have destroyed the organisation and another rule for the ordinary staff on the ground.

Following the  European Central Bank’s increase to 1.25% of  their  base lending rate -  AIB has  confirmed similar  increases to its lending and deposit rates effective from close of business on 19th April.

Allied Irish Bank ECB Tracker  mortgages and all deposit rates will increase in line with the ECB rate change.
The rates on AIB’s Standard Variable Rate and Loan to Value variable rate mortgages remain under review.

Other AIB  lending rates will be increasing by 0.25%  – these include  loan and overdraft rates for personal customers and certain  loan and overdraft rates for business customers.

Other lenders in Ireland already announced mortgage rate rises

Irisdh Minister for Finance – Michael Noonan has announced the banking system will be restructured with two new strong banks. He said AIB and EBS will be merged as one of these ‘pillars’. He said Bank of Ireland will be the other ‘pillar’.

AIB and EBS are already closely linked because  AIB operates all cash transmission services, including ATM services for EBS.

Irish Life and Permanent is  to be restructured, with the State likely to take a majority stake. Irish Life and Permanent is to sell its Irish Life business.

Today – after a “stress test” on Irish banks – it was announced that the following Irish banks may  need further injections of €24 Billion capital to help them cope with potential losses – this is after the billions that have already been pumped in.

Allied Irish Banks   €13.3bn
Bank of Ireland  €5.2bn
EBS  €1.5bn
Irish Life and Permanent  €4bn

The stress tests were based on estimates that, in a worst-case scenario, the four banks could lose almost €9.5 billion from residential mortgage loans over the next three years.

The Govenor of the Central Bank – Mr Honohan – said the aim was to create a sustainable Irish banking system through a combination of recapitalisation, deleveraging and reorganisation.

The total given to the banks before this announcement was  €46 billion – with €34.7 billion of that  going Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide.

The Government will take  €17.5 billion more from the NPRF. (  €7.2 billion and €3.5 billion has already been taken out for the earlier bailouts of Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland, respectively.)

Anything over the €17.5 billion for the banks will be borrowed at an average interest rate of 5.8 per cent. Most of this  capital  will come from the €35 billion set aside in the €85 billion EU-IMF bailout for the banks.