Closing Bank Accounts in favour of CU - realistic?

E

easpaairgid

Guest
Hi there,

I am new to this forum and clueless about money. Should have been on this a long time ago really. Just wondered if anyone could maybe advise on something I heard on the radio this morning & am considering...

They were talking about how it's almost unavoidable to escape bank charges now. I am with B of I, who now require that you keep at least €3000 in the current account to avoid charges. Even I know that would be madness as any €3000 I might have (I don't!) would earn more on deposit that i would end up paying in charges.

My question is whether it is realistic to close all bank accounts (I am self-employed and regularly use electronic transfers to get paid, pay my bills etc) I mainly use Laser for occasional online purchases.

What they advised on the radio was to do three things:
1. Close bank account
2. Open Credit union account in a branch that allows electronic payments and has ATM style cards available (didn't know any of them had ATM cards)
3. Buy a pre-pay credit card for online purchases.

It all sounds attractive. I have no knowledge or experience of pre-paid credit cards, it would be handy to have for online purchases alright but they have their own charges (looking for minimum bank/card charges here!!) Also, some of them need to be topped up by bank transfer which would defeat the purpose of my excercise...

Any advice or opinions on any of the above? Thank you for reading until the end!
 
Have a look at the EBS MoneyManager account.

You can bank free if you keep €500 in your account for the quarter. You get a MasterCard debit - for online purchases and ATM withdrawals.

You can only open a credit union account in your local catchment area, so unless one local to your place of work, or house provide ATM cards then you cant open it there.

EBS allow five ATM/Branch withdrawals per quarter otherwise its 0.30 per transaction.

[broken link removed]

Its now part of AIB - so its covered by the exchequer. They do say for personal customers only so I doubt they can open accounts in business or company names.
 
Thanks for the advice Kimmage, i had looked up an irish comparison site for best current accounts but they were all much of a muchness really-this one looks better & i am wondering why it didnt appear on the comparison site..

I meant to say i am already a lifelong member of a CU where i grew up but no longer live, although it is the same county. They didnt seem to mind when i told them of my change of address but maybe its ok once you are an established member but leave the area and not looking to join one where you dont live...i just need to check what online facilities they have as the website iis a bit vague on that.

Thanks again for the advice. At this stage just wanta get away from B of I after 17 loyal years custom (loans, motgage etc)and that final kick in the teeth. Stuck with them for mortgage unfortunately for now.
 

I think the catchment is really so people dont open more than one account - even in your credit union you cant have more than one share account. You can have 'stamps' accounts etc but only one for dividends.

I think the reason is they are not, for the most part privy to the ICB records and so you could in theory get multiple loans from many credit unions and then have trouble etc.

The EBS is a good product. They allow Direct Debits, Standing Order and debit cards. They arent as cutting edge with online banking as say Danske (NIB) - you cant do as much, but between a credit union account and this, I would pick EBS. The CU cards only work in Ireland as far as I know - maybe I am wrong.

PS - if you lodge 1,500 per month you dont need to maintain 500.00 - its either or.

I know some people (my ma) is afraid to keep the 2,500 with AIB or 3k with BOI as her card was skimmed in the past and 300 was taken. So she likes to keep a lowish balance.
 
EBS sounds great, thanks Kimmage. 1500 is very do-able, though 500 on deposit isn't too bad either!
 
I have been using an EBS MoneyManager account for my day to day banking for the last few months since 'The Event' occurred in Ulster Bank. I would strongly recommend it with the following caveats.

Their online banking site is a bit slow to update. DD's are taken from your account on the correct date but don't show up on the online site until two days later.

Electronic transfers in Ireland. If I want to send some money to a friend, I have to first create a 'Telemandate' for that friend. That is, download a form fill in his bank details, submit it to EBS and wait a couple of day for it to be set up. Once it has been set up then I can request for money to be sent to my friend any time. It is like a manual way of saving a Payee. You have to do this the first time you want to send money to any new person. It's fine if you will frequently send money to that friend. But a real pain for making once off transfers.

International transfers. EBS do not do international bank transfers.

Credits Card. EBS do not offer a credit card.

EBS only launched this type of account about a year ago and say it is still being developed. So presumably they will start to catch up to the online convenience of the other banks in the coming years.
 
Thanks for all the helpful replies, EBS sounds like a very good alternative, need to get off backside and do it now - customer apathy when it comes to banks is terrible. Thanks again.
 
Just wanted to ask, after having looked in the Best Buys section, as you mention, CiaranT, Ulster Bank have a current account with even fewer strings attached. Is there something I am missing, or is it just because it's UB with all the associated problems last summer that the EBS account was recommended? as well as them not being guaranteed... (or are they?)
Clueless...
 
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