If you are travelling to the UK or any country that doesn’t use the EURO – it is very easy to use your  debit card at an ATM to withdraw Sterling or other currencies – but be aware that your bank will usually charge you a fee.

The foreign  (Non Euro) ATM cash withdrawal charges for the main Irish banks are listed below. (Withdrawals of Euro should be free)

Ulster Bank 2% (min €3, max €12), plus foreign exchange fee of 1.5%
(But if you use an ATM in the UK  owned by Ulster Bank, Easy Cash,Royal Bank of Scotland or NatWest , you will not be charged.)

AIB – Currency conversion fee of up to 3% (depending on currency) plus commission of 1% (min €1.27, max €6.35)

BOI 3.5% (min €3.17, max €11.43)

NIB 3.5% (min €3.17, max €11.43)

PTSB 3.5% (min €3.17, max €11.43)

So – a withdrawal of £200 at at ATM will cost you £7  (about €8 ) with most bank’s debit cards  -  the AIB fee is not so clear cut – but it will be a similar amount.
Making four smaller withdrawals of £50 will cost you the minimum fee €3.17 each time – so a total of  €12.68
There will be no fee with an Ulster card at certain UK  banks (see above)

If you are looking to transfer large amounts of Euro to Sterling – take a look at our page on how to get the Best Euro Sterling Exchange Rates

 Irish Banks Still Want your Money.
You might think that the Irish people  have already given the banks  too much money in the form of  the bailout – especially when you consider the massive profits of Irish banks in recent years .  The banks in Ireland are  still trying hard to  get us to deposit  our money into their savings accounts.

On our page of  the Best  Savings  Rates in Ireland   – you will see that you can get rates as high as 4.1% at a time when the ECB rate is just 1% .

If you are lucky enough to have some savings – then you should check if you are getting the best interest rate. Some deposit accounts pay as little as 0.1% a year !  If you had just €4000 and moved it to an account paying 4.1% – you could get enough extra interest in a year to pay the Household Charge and have a bit left over even after the 30% DIRT.

See more of our 2012 Money Saving Tips.

A few of the Irish and non Irish banks are trying to attract deposits with newspaper and online advertising .

Just today – a  Google search  for  “best irish interest  rates ” resulted in quite a few  adverts from banks. Rabobank , Nationwide UK (Ireland) and  KBC had the top 3 advert slots.
The government backed State Savings were also advertising their 3% rate. years.

The choice of banks in Ireland  has narrowed – with several recent takeovers  – the latest one being Northern Rock Ireland – it has been transferred to PTSB – and their 3.25% rate is no longer available to new customers.

Best Interest Rates 

There is only one truly free current account in Ireland – and that is offered by Ulster Bank.  The other banks make you satisfy certain criteria to qualify for fee free banking.

Bank of Ireland :   BOI criteria for fee free banking is

a) Lodge at least €3,000 into the account each quarter AND make nine payments from that account using either  phone or online services

OR b) maintain a minimum credit balance of €3,000 throughout the full quarter

The BOI fees are  28 cents for each of the following transactions:
Debit Card ; ATM  ;Standing order ;Direct debit  ; Cheque  ;Branch transaction ; Internet transaction ;   Phone transaction

So – someone with a BOI account that didn’t meet the fee free banking criteria – using a debit card twice a day , using the ATM three times a week, writing one cheque a week and with 5 direct debits a month , would be charged €68 in transaction fees in a quarter. (€272 a year)

PTSB charge a flat rate of €12.50 a quarter – but PTSB customers can avoid this fee if in each quarter they  :  lodge at least €3,000   AND  make at least 18 card purchases  AND make at least 1 financial transaction through online banking (Open24) AND  keep the account within agreed limits.

AIB are a bit more lenient . They offer no fee banking if customers  use their AIB debit card to make at least one purchase each quarter AND  make at least one debit transaction using AIB Phone or Internet Banking in each quarter.
If you don’t qualify for free banking with AIB – you will be charged €4.50 a quarter (admin) plus 20 cents for each of the following transactions:
Debit Card ; ATM  ;Standing order ;Direct debit  ;  Internet transaction ;   Phone transaction and 30 Cents for each Cheque  and Branch transaction.

NIB are almost free – they charge 34 cents for cheque processing if you have more than 6  per quarter. NIB also charge 34 cents for each non credit branch transaction above 6  per quarter.

Ulster Bank offer free current accounts. They have no admin fees or charges for any day to day transactions on current accounts.

All figures checked December 23rd 2010

Bank of Ireland announced  back in October 2010 that  in 2011  they were replacing Laser cards with Visa Debit cards.
They originally said it would happen  in the second half of 2011.  It looks like this may have been a ploy to stop customers leaving – because thay have only now announced that existing Bank of Ireland customers will receive  Visa Debit cards on a phased basis between January and June 2012.

Bank of Ireland say that from  31st January 2012 they will no longer issue Debit and ATM cards under the  Laser, Cirrus and Maestro schemes.

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

Bank of Ireland recently  launched a 2 year savings account – with a first year fixed rate of 3% and a second year fixed rate of 6%. They have called  it the “Double your Interest  Account”
That works out at an interest rate of 4.5% AER taken over the two years.
AT the moment that is the best rate for a 2 year fixed rate in Ireland .

The initial launch had a closing date of  April 27th – but they have announced a 3rd  phase which is open for applications until June  29th 2011.

You must deposit between €20,000 and €1 million -  and these funds must not be currently held within the Bank of Ireland Group.

After year one, interest will be paid and you can withdraw some or all of your money.  Any funds left within the account will automatically move into a second 1 year fixed term with a fixed interest rate of 6% EAR

See Other Deposit Interest Rates

There are reports that Bank of Ireland’s cash machines are not working.
Today is the day that Eric Cantona (yes the ex footballer)  called for everyone to withdraw all their cash from the banks. Maybe BOI can’t cope ?

It turns out that there is a major problem with the computer system at BOI . It probably means that until it is fixed that BOI customers will not be able to get cash at any ATM (even othe Banks) – they may also have problems with Laser card payments in shops.
Apparently – there were long queues at BOI cash machines after reports that they were dishing out money even though customers knew there was nothing in their accounts !

As expected – following rate increases from EBS and PTSB – the 2 “main” banks in Ireland have jumped on the bandwagon and increased variable mortgage rates.

Bank of Ireland increased their rate  by 0.45 % to 3.49 %.
ICS (BOI broker arm) has increased its rate by 0.6 % to 3.64 %

AIB has increased variable mortgage rates by 0.5% (SVR rises from 2.75 % to 3.25 %
That equates to an increase of  18%

These increases follow similar rises by EBS – who increased its rate by 0.6 %, up from 3.23 % to 3.83 %.  Permanent TSB  also rose rates  this month by 0.5 per cent to 4.19 %

See all the lowest mortgage rates in Ireland here.

Tracker Mortgages are not affected.