Bank of Ireland have just increased the interest rates on their  “2 in1″ Mastercard and their Clear Credit Card
The “2in 1″ rate on purchases has risen from 13.9% to 14.9%. The interest rate on cash withdrawals with the 2 in 1 card has been increased by a third from   17.4% to 23.2% APR.
The interest rate on purchases for the BOI Clear card has increased from 9.5%  to 10.9% .
The AIB Click card now has the lowest interest rate on purchases – at 9.5% APR

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Ireland used to offer new credit card customers 0% Interest on balance transfers for 6 months – but that offer has been withdrawn as of today.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

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.

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.

Sept 2008: The Irish Government has this morning announced it will guarantee all deposits and borrowings in the Irish banking system.

Which banks and building societies are covered?
The six financial institutions involved are AIB, Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Life and Permanent, Irish Nationwide and EBS Building Society.

How long does the guarantee last for?
The scheme starts immediately and lasts until in September 2010.

See here for What Happens after September 2010

Which banks in Ireland are not covered ?
It does not apply to Ulster Bank, National Irish Bank, ACC, Rabobank, First Active, Halifax, Leeds, Bank of Scotland – who are all supported by overseas parent banks. Credit Unions are not covered either.

Are business accounts covered?
Yes – all deposits retail (personal) , commercial, institutional and interbank are covered as are “covered bonds”

The announcement came following a day of record losses on the Irish stock market which saw Anglo Irish Bank down 46%.

Only last week the Government guaranteed personal deposits of up to €100,000. Now it has gone further to cover all major deposits by financial institutions with Irish banks and building societies. This guarantee also covers all money borrowed by Irish banks from other financial institutions.

The statement from the Department of Finance says that all deposits, bonds and debt will be covered by the State.
Essentially this is a guarantee that if any Irish bank faces serious problems the Government will step in. The two year guarantee is being provided on commercial terms to the institutions.
The backing would be subject to conditions which would protect taxpayers interests.

Extract from Dept Finance Statement
‘The decision has been taken by Government to remove any uncertainty on the part of counterparties and customers of the six credit institutions,’
‘The Government’s objective in taking this decisive action is to maintain financial stability for the benefit of depositors and businesses and is in the best interests of the Irish economy,’
‘This very important initiative by the Government is designed to safeguard the Irish financial system and to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy caused by the recent turmoil in the international financial markets,’

The Irish market has reacted positively to the statement on the guaranteeing of deposits and loans in Irish owned banks.
The ISEQ index was up 3.7% in the first 15 minutes of trade.
The banks are making back some of yesterday’s heavy losses with Anglo Irish Bank soaring 49%, Irish Life and Permanent jumping 40%, Bank of Ireland gaining 22% and AIB up 14%.