Money Guide Ireland

Bank of Ireland used to offer new credit card customers 0% Interest on balance transfers for 6 months – but that offer has been withdrawn as of today. New credit card customers can opt for 3.9% interest for 6 months on balance transfers OR 0% on purchases.
See all Credit Card Introductory Offers here

If you are travelling to the UK or another country that doesn’t use the EURO it is easy to just use your  debit card at an ATM to withdraw Sterling or other currencies – but be aware that your bank will charge you.
The foreign ATM cash withdrawal charges for the main Irish banks are listed below.

Ulster Bank 2% (min €3, max €12), plus foreign exchange fee of 1.5% (But they say no charge in the UK)

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)

Halifax 1.75%

NIB 3.5% (min €3.17, max €11.43)

Postbank €5.00 flat fee

PTSB 3.5% (min €3.17, max €11.43)

With ECB rates still at an all time low – and with hints of a possible rise on the way because of EU inflation – is now a good time to fix your mortgage rate ?
Variable mortgage rates are still as low as as they have ever been – and some of the lowest  fixed rate mortgages are looking attractive if you can get them.

The lowest  3 year fixed rate available in Ireland now is  3.19% from AIB.
AIB also offer the best  5 Year fixed rate of  3.86% .
See the lowest 3 year fixed rates here – Lowest 5 Year fixed Rates here

If you are already with AIB on a variable rate mortgage  -  it should be just a matter of asking to go on to the fixed rate. There should be no fees to switch from variable to fixed with the same lender . Fixing your rate is not definitely going to be a better option for all borrowers – especially those already on a low variable rate or tracker rate.
If you need to switch lenders to get a good fixed rate – it might be more difficult and costly. Most lenders will only lend up to 92% of the value  of the property – so if the value of your house has fallen a lot – you may not be able to switch to a new lender. (more…)

The financial ombudsman in the UK has published some detailed figures about complaints made against financial institutions – and the outcome of those complaints. For the first time they have also published the names of the institutions involved – something the Irish Financial Ombudsman does not yet do .

Here are some figures from the UK on 2008/2009 complaints made about some UK companies with Irish connections or operating in Ireland . These figures may be of interest in the absence of similar figures from our financial ombudsman. Tesco and Northern Rock didn’t come out too well while Halifax Insurance had the least complaints upheld. (NB: These figures are nothing to do with their Irish operations – just the UK based ones)

Tesco Personal Finance 267 new cases   78% upheld
Northern Rock 593 new cases  78% upheld
Ulster Bank 67 new cases   76% upheld
Bank of Ireland 336 new cases  62% upheld
AIB Group UK 90 new cases  51% upheld
Quinn Insurance 67 new cases   45% upheld
Royal & Sun Alliance 372 new cases  36% upheld
Allianz Insurance 200 new cases   34% upheld
Halifax Insurance Ireland 74 new cases   27% upheld

There were a totalof 789877 initial enquiries made to the  UK  ombudsman which led to 127471 full blown cases.
The Irish Financial ombudsman had  3876 complaints in the first 6 months of 2009 – which equates to  7752 a  year.
This is about 6 % of the UK ombudsman complaints figure – which is broadly in line with the population differences between the UK and Ireland.

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 reason I chose the bank I did for  my  first current account as a student (pre internet) – back in the eighties – was because it was Freepost – so  I didn’t need a stamp to send off the application form.  These days the banks are using more than the price of a stamp to try and attract students.
The big three Irish banks AIB , Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank all have special deals to try and attract  students

Ulster Bank – in our opinion is offering the best deal. They are offering €100 to all new student account holders -   €50 will be deposited into your account by the end of December, and €50 by the end of January 2010.
You must make 3 transactions per month from the time you open your account, in order to qualify for this offer.
Ulster Bank also offer an Interest-free overdraft of €650. You can actually apply for an interest free overdraft of up to €2,800 depending on what year of your course you are in (subject to approval). You have to repay the overdraft within one year of finishing your course. If you hang on a few more days – you will probably get a Visa Debit card instead of a laser card – which is another reason to choose Ulster Bank. (Much easier for online shopping)

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, Edinburgh, Paris
Frankfurt, Milan, Berlin, Stockholm, Amsterdam or  Brussels.
Students have to open an account before October 16th  and then use the account five times in October and five times again in November. The free flight vouchers will probably not be sent out until early 2010.  With Ryanair offering cheap flights to most of these destinations – this ticket offer may not be worth much more than €100 .
BOI also offer 9 months interst free loans to students of up to €2000

AIB are offering €50 to anyone opening a new student account  with them. You have to carry out 3 Top Ups by Text using the AIB Top Up by Text service and 3 other transactions (lodgements/withdrawals) on your AIB Student Plus Account by 30th November 2009 in order to get this €50 . You must also be registered for AIB Phone & Internet Banking to use the AIB Top Up by Text service.
AIB also give you a voucher for a free student travelcard (worth €12).

Bank of Ireland are offering 6 months interest free credit on cash withdrawals with their credit card for new applicants who apply before October 30th 2009. BOI were already offering an introductory 0% credit on balance transfers and purchases – this added bonus may look more attractive – but beware of the 1.5% cash withdrawal fee (min fee €2.54) .

There is a danger that people may get carried away and use this interest free cash to buy stuff they don’t need. After 6 months – the full rate of interest will be payable – 17.4% APR.

It would not really be possible to make money by withdrawing the cash up to your credit limit and putting in into a deposit account paying 3.75% . After you take DIRT and the withdrawal fee into account you would only just about break even.

Bank of Ireland has dropped the rates on its mortgages for new and existing customers. This fall is passing on the ECB cut announced on April 2nd. The standard variable rates for new customers vary depending on the LTV – but they appear to have dropped by  0.35% according to the figures shown on the BOI website.
See all the latest mortgage rates here .

Many mortgage lenders have withdrawn tracker mortgages in 2008. According to the Irish Independent – Bank of Ireland and ICS are going to do the same – and stop offering tracker mortgages to new customers from October 10th.
Ulster Bank and First Active stopped offering new tracker mortgages back in September 2008.
Tracker mortgage rates move up or down in line with ECB rates. When you sign up for a tracker mortgage – the lender agrees to keep your mortgage rate at a specific percantage rate above the ECB rate for the life of your loan. Some tracker rates for new customers are just ECB plus 0.9% . (NIB).
People on tracker mortgages will automatically benefit from yesterdays announced 0.5% ECB rate cut. The ECB decrease takes effect from Wednesday 15th October 2008. This should reduce mortgage repayments by an average of €70 a month. But – it is expected that many lenders will not pass on some or all of that decrease to borrowers on Standard Variable Rate mortgages.
So where can you still get tracker mortgages?
Well – according to the Irish Independent today – only NIB and AIB are offering tracker mortgages – But they have for some reason missed out Halifax and EBS – who are both still offering tracker mortgages according to their web sites.

See our comparison of tracker mortgage rates here to find out the lowest interest rate you could get. .
NB: Halifax are still advertising that they will cover up to €1000 of legal fees for borrowers who switch mortgages to them.