AIB Regular Saver: How does it work??

P

Polestar

Registered User
Messages
12
I am at a loss as to how the AIB regular saver account works.

I opened 2 of these a few months ago and have made some monthly payments into them. Both have €4,000 in them at the moment, increasing by €1,000 per month.

There are some "transactions" I don't understand:

Account A:
...
19 Sep 2023: New Interest Rate Credit @3.000% Up to e €8,000...
2 Oct 2023: Standing order payment made
13 Oct 2023: Interest Rate Credit @3.000% Up to e €9,000...
1 Nov 2023: Standing order payment made

Account B:
...
19 Sep 2023: New Interest Rate Credit @3.000% Up to e €2,000...
29 Sep 2023: Interest Rate Credit @3.000% Up to e €3,000...
2 Oct 2023: Standing order payment made
1 Nov 2023: Standing order payment made
1 Nov 2023: Interest Rate Credit @3.000% Up to e €4,000...

What do the interest rate credit lines mean and why are they different if the accounts and the standing order are the same?

Am I availing of the full 3% interest?

How can I calculate the total interest if I put €1,000 per month for 12 months?
 
Account A is 9 months into its yearly cycle. If you have more than 9000 euro the balance will not earn 3%

Account B is 4 months into its yearly cycle.

You probably started deposits at different dates.
 
S class said:
Account A is 9 months into its yearly cycle. If you have more than 9000 euro the balance will not earn 3%

Account B is 4 months into its yearly cycle.

You probably started deposits at different dates.
Click to expand...
Probably worth people opening 2 or 3 AIB regular Saver accounts at 6 months (for two) or 4 months (for three) apart so that they can transfer part of the balance from the first account once the initial 12 months is up to keep earning 3% interest on a couple of thousand.
 
AIB allow you to open up to 3 Regular savings accounts.
The optimal way to allow for the most interest is to space them out by 4 to 5 months.
For example if you open an account in Jan, May and Sept, between the 3 accounts, the lowest amount qualifying to 3% would be 15K (this would happen in January).
The Max amount qualifying to 3% would be 24K (this would happen in April, August and December).
Total (,000s) Qualifying For 3%Total EUR
OpenedJanSepMay15,000
210618,000
311721,000
412824,000
51915,000
621018,000
731121,000
841224,000
95115,000
106218,000
117321,000
128424,000
 
AJAM said:
AIB allow you to open up to 3 Regular savings accounts.
The optimal way to allow for the most interest is to space them out by 4 to 5 months.
For example if you open an account in Jan, May and Sept, between the 3 accounts, the lowest amount qualifying to 3% would be 15K (this would happen in January).
The Max amount qualifying to 3% would be 24K (this would happen in April, August and December).
Total (,000s) Qualifying For 3%Total EUR
OpenedJanSepMay15,000
210618,000
311721,000
412824,000
51915,000
621018,000
731121,000
841224,000
95115,000
106218,000
117321,000
128424,000
Click to expand...
They don't make it easy do they?
 
Harvard said:
They don't make it easy do they?
Click to expand...
A savings account that requires a PHD in maths just to figure out how the interest works. This really is just a way for them to tell people they have improved their savings rate but making it complicated and cumbersome enough that they hope people won't bother their hole actually using it.
 
Connard said:
A savings account that requires a PHD in maths just to figure out how the interest works. This really is just a way for them to tell people they have improved their savings rate but making it complicated and cumbersome enough that they hope people won't bother their hole actually using it.
Click to expand...
In a nutshell. Not for the faint hearted.
 
Connard said:
A savings account that requires a PHD in maths just to figure out how the interest works. This really is just a way for them to tell people they have improved their savings rate but making it complicated and cumbersome enough that they hope people won't bother their hole actually using it.
Click to expand...

Exactly. It is a disgrace how complex the AIB Online Regular Saver product is. I bet a significant portion of customers either don't understand the T&C's or fail to comply with the T&C's which benefits AIB.
 
Last edited:
Lightning said:
Exactly. It is a disgrace how complex the AIB Online Regular Saver product is. I bet a significant portion of customers either don't understand the T&C's or fail to comply with the T&C's with benefits AIB.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Most regular savers are simple enough to understand. Max amount of €X per month and it earns Y%. Reading the posts above I haven't got a clue what the hell they are talking about and I would consider myself good with money and personal finance.
 
I was 9 months into one of these savings accounts when I realised I could have 4 of them. Now there's €4k a month going into these 3% accounts. The money is coming from a demand deposit account which only earns 0.25%.

When the 9 month account is at 12 months, it starts again so the balance can go into the demand account and it can help fund the 4 accounts.
 
The Oggster said:
I was 9 months into one of these savings accounts when I realised I could have 4 of them. Now there's €4k a month going into these 3% accounts. The money is coming from a demand deposit account which only earns 0.25%.

When the 9 month account is at 12 months, it starts again so the balance can go into the demand account and it can help fund the 4 accounts.
Click to expand...
Does this mean that with 4 accounts after a year you have 48k earning 3% and you just have to withdraw 1k per account and deposit it back again? It works but sounds like a lot of hassle when you can get 3% or more on Trade Republic, LightYear and multiple accounts on Raisin.
 
@The Oggster

Sounds like you have €48k to deposit. In that case would you not be better putting it somewhere like Bunq at 2.46% on the entire balance for as long as you leave it there, which would earn you a lot more. Or put some of it in term deposits if you can lock it up for a period ?
 
Connard said:
Does this mean that with 4 accounts after a year you have 48k earning 3% and you just have to withdraw 1k per account and deposit it back again?
Click to expand...
No. If you start the 4 accounts at the same time the amount that earns 3% is as follows:

Month 1 - 4 x €1,000 =€4,000
Month 2 - 4 x €2,000 =€8,000
Month 3 - 4 x €3,000 =€12,000
Month 12 - 4 x €12,000 =€48,000
Month 13 - 4 x €1,000 =€4,000
Month 14 - 4 x €2,000 =€8,000

These accounts are very misleading
 
Not 48k exactly but I can move money around and keep it going on a rolling basis. You can withdraw and deposit again if you can't fulfill the max.

I have the balance in Bunq and will just move over enough for the AIB savings accounts each month.
 
Freelance said:
No. If you start the 4 accounts at the same time the amount that earns 3% is as follows:

Month 1 - 4 x €1,000 =€4,000
Month 2 - 4 x €2,000 =€8,000
Month 3 - 4 x €3,000 =€12,000
Month 12 - 4 x €12,000 =€48,000
Month 13 - 4 x €1,000 =€4,000
Month 14 - 4 x €2,000 =€8,000

These accounts are very misleading
Click to expand...
So after the year you are best to empty the account and put it all in Raisin. If you haven't maxed out your Trade Republic and LightYear accounts, you would be best to put your monthly savings in them until you have.

Usually with regular saver accounts, the interest rate applies to the whole balance (once it doesn't go over a certain amount). This new way of doing things where it resets after a year is really This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language.
 
Freelance said:
@The Oggster

Sounds like you have €48k to deposit. In that case would you not be better putting it somewhere like Bunq at 2.46% on the entire balance for as long as you leave it there, which would earn you a lot more. Or put some of it in term deposits if you can lock it up for a period ?
Click to expand...
Why not open a Trade Republic account and have it earn 4% on 50K cash deposit ?

This has to be the best deal around ?
 
Freelance said:
No. If you start the 4 accounts at the same time the amount that earns 3% is as follows:

Month 1 - 4 x €1,000 =€4,000
Month 2 - 4 x €2,000 =€8,000
Month 3 - 4 x €3,000 =€12,000
Month 12 - 4 x €12,000 =€48,000
Month 13 - 4 x €1,000 =€4,000
Month 14 - 4 x €2,000 =€8,000

These accounts are very misleading
Click to expand...
I have just been in with AIB and the staff there in branch are insistent that if you add €1000 per month into one of these accounts you will at the end of the 12 month period get a total of 3% interest on the ENTIRE €12K !! Forgive me but this can’t be right ... right ?

Month 1 ... €1,000 in @3% = interest of €30/12 = €2.50 total interest.

Month 2 ... another €1000 added ... total interest earned = €5.00

Month 3 … another €1000 added ... total interest earned = €7.50

and so on ... until month 12 where there is €12k in there and total interest earned that month is 12 x €2.50 = €30

So the cumulative interest for the year is €2.50 + €5 + €7.50 + ... ... €30 = €195
or 1.625% AER

The interest is only paid on the principal and not compounded.

Can somebody please verify my figures above ?

If what they are saying is true then it would make sense to have your money deposited in say Bunq getting 2.46% and have it feed in every month into AIB savings account and make interest on the double !!
 
@baj2005 your figures are correct. Also in month 13, it goes back to €1000 and the incremental limit for 3% starts again.

I am feeding the AIB accounts from Bunq as you say at the end of your post.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top