Alternatives to BOI for current and business banking

[Armstrongracer]

After 20 years with BOI I've finally had enough with their mediocre customer service which has finally fallen into an abyss since their shift offshore to India I think. Im actually writing this 33 minutes into a service call to activate a card and am on transfer and hold no 3. Also their online banking is absolutely rubbish compared to Ulster Bank who I was using for business banking. So I'm looking for an alternative bank for my current and business account that give me good online and e-banking with at least some degree of customer service.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

The only alternative to BoI for business banking is AIB.

Brendan

 

[ClubMan]

The only alternative to BoI for business banking is AIB.

Brendan

What about ptsb?

Business Banking | Online Business Banking | PTSB

Simple and convenient Business Banking solutions for Small and Medium Businesses (SMEs). Check our Business Banking solutions today.

www.ptsb.ie

Other possible options here:

Best Business Bank Account For SMEs In Ireland | Accountant Online

Our business banking guide compares several business bank accounts available in Ireland. Choose the best business bank account for your SME.

accountantonline.ie

 

[Brendan Burgess]

If you have a business you need a full bank.

I wouldn't trust ptsb. They are primarily a personal bank.

So the real alternative to AIB is BoI.

Likewise I don't think that the other options are viable. For example, if you rely on a Revolut Business Account and their algorithm decides to freeze your account, you could go out of business.

Brendan

 

[Dr Strangelove]

I wouldn't trust ptsb. They are primarily a personal bank.

I have no experience as a business customer of any of the above, but PTSB does offer current account services and lends to SMEs.

I agree that someone should be very wary of relying on Revolut without a full backup plan in place.

 

[Armstrongracer]

Should explain that my business account is fairly small, I'm a Ltd Co contractor, so just process 1-2 invoices / month. One big problem I have with BOI that wasn't there with Ulster Bank is the amount of transactional information available on statements. BOI gives barely a single, very cryptic line, Ulster gave much more information. This is causing me issues with revenue, I travel a lot for work and with electronic tapping you don't get paper receipts, the limited info I get from BOI statement is causing me issues with expense filing.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

This is causing me issues with revenue, I travel a lot for work and with electronic tapping you don't get paper receipts,

Surely it's your own failure to keep a note of your expenditure which is the problem here?

But you don't need a business account for that. Try Revolut for expenditure.

Brendan

 

[Armstrongracer]

I need a business account for payments & processing VAT its a stipulation from my clients and accountant, only ever use the company debit card for travelling. Flights hotels and things like taxi's get receipts, taps for snacks & coffees I rely on statement to give me enough transactional info to see what it was spent on and defining the original currency (I work in Denmark a bit), BOI doesnt give me that. I have Revolut for private stuff but prefer to use company account 100% for legitimate business transactions, it gets messy if I mix.

 

[ClubMan]

Flights hotels and things like taxi's get receipts, taps for snacks & coffees I rely on statement to give me enough transactional info to see what it was spent on and defining the original currency (I work in Denmark a bit), BOI doesnt give me that.

What's the issue with asking for and collating receipts for all relevant transactions?

Surely "snacks and coffees" are a marginal cost in the greater scheme of things anyway?

 

[Steven Barrett]

I have a personal and business account with BoI and find them fine. With online banking and the app, banking has become a commodity these days. I don't need any customer service or to go to the branch.

I was on the BoI business online, which is more for big organisations and contained layers of passwords. I did look at switching to Ulster Bank. That was an ordeal! And they put my business account with my personal account with them?!!! Luckily, I hadn't closed my BoI account and got the online switched to the Banking365.

For any business expense that I have, I always get a receipt. It's not that hard.

 

[Sunny]

If you have a business you need a full bank.

I wouldn't trust ptsb. They are primarily a personal bank.

So the real alternative to AIB is BoI.

Likewise I don't think that the other options are viable. For example, if you rely on a Revolut Business Account and their algorithm decides to freeze your account, you could go out of business.

Brendan

PTSB took over alot of SME business from Ulster and it is the one area where they are going to be trying to aggressively grow market share. No idea what they are like as a business bank but I wouldn't rule them out. At least you will know that they want your business if you are unhappy at BOI or AIB. Certainly haven't heard any stories as to why you 'couldn't trust them'.....

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Certainly haven't heard any stories as to why you 'couldn't trust them'.....

No?

Tracker mortgage scandal? All banks involved, but ptsb proportionally the worst and the C.E. currently subject to an Admin Sanctions hearing.
ptsb SVR campaign where they were charging 6% when other banks were charging 3%.
Long term discrimination between new and existing customers?
For a long time did not offer existing customers fixed rates?
Were forced to sell performing split mortgages to vulture funds.
Have sold performing buy to let mortgages to vulture funds.

 

[Johnno75]

I use AIB for my personal and business accounts and generally find them fine.

I also use BoI for business lending and tax provisioning and find them ok too.

My experience is that AIB (IBB) is marginally better.

 

[24601]

Should explain that my business account is fairly small, I'm a Ltd Co contractor, so just process 1-2 invoices / month. One big problem I have with BOI that wasn't there with Ulster Bank is the amount of transactional information available on statements. BOI gives barely a single, very cryptic line, Ulster gave much more information. This is causing me issues with revenue, I travel a lot for work and with electronic tapping you don't get paper receipts, the limited info I get from BOI statement is causing me issues with expense filing.

I use PTSB as a sole trader. They're not great but it does the job, just about - I'd only be issuing 5 - 10 invoices per month. I've been tempted to move elsewhere multiple times but BOI/AIB seem as bad. Biggest issue for me is that they don't have a business banking mobile app so you can only login online - the online banking works with a browser on an iPad but not with a phone. They also don't do eStatements which is a nightmare, although you can generate transaction listings as PDF/CSV files.

Your receipts issue is your own fault though. No bank is going to substitute having to keep proper expense records yourself. I don't think my PTSB statements have much info on them.

I wouldn't bother moving if I were you, even just the hassle of advising clients of the new IBAN and moving DDs would put me off when they're all so meh.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Biggest issue for me is that they don't have a business banking mobile app so you can only login online - the online banking works with a browser on an iPad but not with a phone. They also don't do eStatements which is a nightmare, although you can generate transaction listings as PDF/CSV files.

And as a small bank with very few business customers, they don't have the resources to develop their IT systems to provide these.

Brendan

 

[T McGibney]

I need a business account for payments & processing VAT its a stipulation from my clients and accountant, only ever use the company debit card for travelling. Flights hotels and things like taxi's get receipts, taps for snacks & coffees I rely on statement to give me enough transactional info to see what it was spent on and defining the original currency (I work in Denmark a bit), BOI doesnt give me that. I have Revolut for private stuff but prefer to use company account 100% for legitimate business transactions, it gets messy if I mix.

Get yourself a company credit card account and use it for all business travel.

 

[Armstrongracer]

I do use company card for all business travel expenses and as I said statement information is really poor compared to other banks. Also I have some major concerns over BOI's security. Recently had to replace all my BOI cards (private & business debit + Boi credit), they stated suspicious activity as reason but got very vague when I questioned them about exactly what suspicious activity. My BOI master card was my emergency backup, it had never been used after activation, zero transactions in 2 years and never ever used online. This came within a week of that ATM issue they had. I'd say the issues were at their side of the fence.

 

[Angus]

After 20 years with BOI I've finally had enough with their mediocre customer service which has finally fallen into an abyss since their shift offshore to India I think. Im actually writing this 33 minutes into a service call to activate a card and am on transfer and hold no 3. Also their online banking is absolutely rubbish compared to Ulster Bank who I was using for business banking. So I'm looking for an alternative bank for my current and business account that give me good online and e-banking with at least some degree of customer service.

Same experience ....need to experience it to believe how bad it is ..... ex UB now leaving BOI for AIB

 

[Sunny]

No?

Tracker mortgage scandal? All banks involved, but ptsb proportionally the worst and the C.E. currently subject to an Admin Sanctions hearing.
ptsb SVR campaign where they were charging 6% when other banks were charging 3%.
Long term discrimination between new and existing customers?
For a long time did not offer existing customers fixed rates?
Were forced to sell performing split mortgages to vulture funds.
Have sold performing buy to let mortgages to vulture funds.

What on earth has that got to do with business banking offering? That’s ridiculous. Nobody would be using any bank if we were using that logic.
Look at AIB and BOI recently and the issues they have had. AIBA recently had an issue where an IT error allowed unauthorised access to business accounts. The handling of the purchase of ulster bank trackers was awful. Boi had data breach issues around business accounts that left them exposed earlier this year. They had their own IT disaster.
Both banks were involved in tracker scandal. AIB have a history of scandals including offshore accounts and fx over charging.
But what has any of that got to do with anything being discussed here? The business offering from PTSB might be awful compared to the others but that’s not a question of trust. There are no banks that anyone should ‘trust’ over another…

 

[Brendan Burgess]

What on earth has that got to do with business banking offering? That’s ridiculous.

Hi Sunny

No bank treats customers well.

But ptsb's culture of exploiting customers is deeply ingrained and comparatively much worse than the other banks.

I have dealt with the victims of all the banks They frequently post here. What AIB did to the Prevailing Rate customers was completely unacceptable. What Bank of Ireland continues to do to existing customers is completely unacceptable.

But ptsb is in a league of its own.

I would not do business with them unless I had no other choice. That comes from a long time campaigning on behalf of consumers.

On the business banking issue in particular, it's quite possible that they will decide one day to stop doing business banking and the customers will have to move again. Like it or not, there are only two options for business banking in Ireland - AIB or BoI.

Brendan