Back in 2007, a survey found that 65% of people with access to the internet did not use online banking. Coupled with the fact that less than half (43%) had access to the internet on a daily basis, online banking was probably used by as little as 14% of adults in Ireland.
By 2018 the number of Irish people using internet banking had more than doubled in the space of ten years. According to Eurostat – n 2018 58% of people in Ireland made use of online banking. The EU average is 51%.
There have been vast improvements in online banking since 2007. All the “main” banks have online banking available 24/7. Online banking is probably the main reason for the closure of many of the bank branches .
Now it is even possible to do all your banking online with a bank such as N26 – they don’t have any physical branches.
N26 bank was launched in Germany in January 2015 and has been available to Irish residents since December 2015. N26 have over 1.5 million customers across the EU.
N26 has had a full European banking licence since 2016 – so any funds you have with it are covered by the German Bank guarantee (up to €100,000) . ( N26 Bank, is licensed by the European Central Bank and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for conduct of business rules in Ireland.)
With N26 in Ireland you get a bank account number (IBAN) – in the same way as any mainstream bank – so you can get your salary etc paid in. You can also set up Direct Debits.
N26 does not deal with the paying in of cash or cheques .
N26 can be used on a smartphone and also on laptops , PCs or tablets.
The N26 bank account comes with a Mastercard debit card . The only fees on this are a €2 ATM withdrawal fee if you make more than 5 ATM withdrawals (in Euros) in a month. Sign up Here