Revolut as an Alternative to UB Current Account

J

jmcc99_98

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Hi - I am reviewing my options at the moment with regards to moving my current account from UB.

At present I use UB for all my day to day banking. All my DD's go through it, my salary gets paid in etc. Every few months if there is a biggish surplus I will move it to my CU account or Irish Life Investment Plan. I aim to keep the balance at no more than €2500 at any stage.

A strong banking app is important to me and also the ability to quickly transfer money between family members. I have a revolut account at the moment, as has my wife and the kids have revolut junior accounts. At the moment we really only use revolut for occasional purchases and transferring money between family members.

My revolut account has an EUR IBAN so presumably I can set up my DD's without a problem? I am struggling to see what the disadvantages might be to switching all my every day banking to revolut.

I intend to keep open both the revolut and UB Current Accounts for a few months to ensure all the DD get set up correctly - I am aware that Revolut dont do the switching for me, but I am happy to individually set up the DD's etc (It can serve as a financial health check if nothing else)

My mortgage is with UB also but this is to be moved to PTSB (I will review that also closer to the time)

Access to a physical branch isnt that important to me. I rarely get cheques etc and if I do I can lodge to CU.

The CU Current account might be an option but the banking app is very limited.

Has anyone any views on this? I have searched the fourm but couldnt find this particular question being addressed.
 
I'm in a similar position with a KBC current account. I have switched all direct debits to my credit union account, which was inactive for some time. I did it gradually over several months so it wasn't too painful. I've switched all spending from KBC debit card to a BoI credit card, which was largely inactive previously.
My credit union doesn't do current accounts, however, so no debit card. Like you I'm opening a Revolut account for small transfers and for access to ATMs.
I don't have an ideological aversion to AIB, BoI or PTSB. Just though I'd reactivate facilities I wasn't using at credit union and credit card.
So far, so good.
 
tomdublin said:
With Revolut the only drawback is the lack of deposit insurance. The risk this poses is likely to be minimal but hard to quantify.
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But it's hardly material to the OP whose balance never goes above €2,500.

I agree I wouldn't leave large sums with Revolut myself but it looks like a good solution for the OP.
 
I am in the same situation as the OP.
decided to go with BoI for current account and savings accounts, in addition to both N26 and revolut accounts that I have for quite a few years now.
revolut really only as it is free and quite handy now to quickly share the cost of a dinner between friends and such similar things. Revolut seems to have replaced the cash wallet for many friends and acquaintances, but I personally wouldn’t use it as a current account replacement - not even sure why but wouldn’t sit right with me. I guess main reason is probably availability of savings accounts (regular and lump sum). I don‘t care about credit unions at all.
N26 is great for other reasons, like with non-Euro transaction (cash and card) costs outside EU as I travelled a lot.
The reason going for BoI is solely due to newirishwoman banking with AIB, and we don’t want to rely on just one bank for all our money (just in case on bank has technical problems essentially). My previous experience with Permanent TSB was let’s say suboptimal, I shall not darken their doorways again.

The BoI systems are shockingly archaic though, and they could do with hiring a UX designer for the 365 banking and mobile app. but once all the DD’s and standing orders are setup, it doesn’t matter too much anyways.

As for credit card - I just applied for an avant card as they offer €30 cash back for government stamp duty and 1.25% on (some?) purchases.

Ulsterbank mortgage will soon be re-fixed for a few years on 2.2% and after that will be fully paid off. So don’t really care where it lands eventually. Maybe we switch to Avant if they do the €1500 offer.
 
ryaner said:
The non-ie iban continues to cause problems anytime I try to use it for DD or even salary payments. There are a shocking number of HR systems which are very country specific. Revolut do have https://blog.revolut.com/fighting-against-iban-discrimination/ to help with it, although your mileage may vary.
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This would concern me. I really dont want issues with DD bouncing back etc.

This potential problem is enough for me to rule out Revolut as an option - I am ruling out PTSB on the basis of their reputation for customer service, ruling out BOI because of their outdated IT and Banking App, Im ruling out the CU Current Account as it doesnt have a strong banking App and An Post has high fees. This really only leaves AIB.

I had hoped to avoid the mainstream banks but it may not be an option now.
 
It's funny how people say they don't need branches but then quote customer service as one of their key requirements. I never need customer service with regard to my current account and online banking. I have needed customer service with Revolut on a couple of occasions and it was absolutely appalling.

Unless you have complicated banking requirements, then all the online offerings of the Irish Banks are broadly similar. I have used them all over the years and none have either blown me away with their functionality or caused me massive frustration.

I haven't used Post Office or Credit Union so can't comment but if choosing one of the banks, I would simply go for the cheapest.
 
tomdublin said:
With Revolut the only drawback is the lack of deposit insurance. The risk this poses is likely to be minimal but hard to quantify.
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So then, how can you say that its probably minimal? :)

We're talking about putting our funds with an entity, where if there's a fraud, we loose 100% of whatever funds we have in Revolut, with no recourse, and no bail out. Its that simple....

Am I the only one still wondering why its taking the Irish Central Bank so long to approve Revolt's application for a licence?

- that's not a full banking licence btw, it's only a payments licence (which should be a lot easier to obtain!)

NoRegretsCoyote said:
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I have been using EBS/N26 combi for the last 4 months and has been working well. EBS is really basic but I wanted it more for a joint account/Irish IBAN and running things like mortgage, etc that do not fluctuate much. N26 is for the excellent app, to track my day today spending isnt too crazy.....
 
jmcc99_98 said:
Every few months if there is a biggish surplus I will move it to my CU account or Irish Life Investment Plan. I aim to keep the balance at no more than €2500 at any stage.
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When you say that some biggish surplus's are moved to the CU, just remember that a lot of CU's have limits on what they allow to be kept in accounts.
 
noproblem said:
When you say that some biggish surplus's are moved to the CU, just remember that a lot of CU's have limits on what they allow to be kept in accounts.
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Yeah, I would probably be moving maybe 1k or so every couple of months to a plain CU savings account.
 
MrEarl said:
- that's not a full banking licence btw, it's only a payments licence (which should be a lot easier to obtain!)
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My guess is that for e-money licences the regulatory focus is more on money laundering and less on deposit protection.
 
MrEarl said:
Then why not say its probably a medium risk, or high risk?
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To be serious about it, Revolut says it keeps client money in segregated accounts so even if the company goes bust deposits should be fine. That said, there is no 100% guarantee that nothing will go wrong here and no failsafe mechanism if it does. That's why I'm happy to keep around €100 in my Revolut account at any given time but not €2500.
 
Ndiddy said:
I have been using EBS/N26 combi for the last 4 months and has been working well. EBS is really basic but I wanted it more for a joint account/Irish IBAN and running things like mortgage, etc that do not fluctuate much. N26 is for the excellent app, to track my day today spending isnt too crazy.....
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This seems like a sensible fee free option.

As you mention wanting a joint account, have both you and your significant other both got separate N26 accounts?
 
I think alot of people are in this position, myself included. My wife and I use UB purely for DDs and salaries; for general spending we use Revolut. As for the the non-Irsh IBAN, is that even allowed to be refused? Also, fairly sure I have read that Revolut has been granted a full banking license by the European Central Bank (ECB), the Bank of Lithuania (LB), does this not mean they are covered by the deposit guarantee scheeme?

I know we will have to move, and it breas my heart to think I will have to start paying for banking services.

I would look at EBS, but in order to open a joint account they have told me that we both have to visit them, twice, during office hours, which is pretty much a non runner.

Now, I am thinking that we have our own revolut accounts and open a joint vault which we can then use for all our bills; is that even possible?

Thanks for any insights and advice
 
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