Why do Irish bank computers get weekends and holidays off?

[Gervan]

Yesterday I tried to move money from PTSB current account into my regular saver. I had not moved any funds in February. The transfer was refused because it said I was over the monthly limit. It seems the computer did not know January had ended.

With my UK account I can transfer money out on a Sunday afternoon and the UK receiving bank gets the transfer in seconds.

It is infuriating if I want to make payment from AIB to KBC after Friday close and know the funds will not be received till Monday afternoon at soonest.

As title above: Why do our banks need weekends off?

 

[Lightning]

Years ago it took days for transfers to occur. SEPA then came in and meant the transfer must occur by the subsequent business day at the latest. Often sooner.

If a bank uses SEPA Instant or something similar then the transfer can occur quicker.

Same bank transfers are instant like with Revolut to Revolut teansfers.

But yeah waiting a business day for a transfer in this day and age is not ideal.

 

[TarfHead]

I have no knowledge of PTSB, but have some from another.

Generally, banks post transactions on business dates. What I would have expected to happen with PTSB is that at some point on Friday 31 Jan, they would have rolled the business date forward to Monday 03 Feb. It seems from your experience that they don't do that until Monday.

These system were developed years ago and it's a huge business risk to implement significant change. Irish banks are traditionally risk-averse. Compliance, like SEPA, tends to be integrated around existing
systems rather than starting again from scratch.

A transfer between two accounts in your own name should not be subject to limits. If the funds allow, you should be able to move them between your own (demand) accounts without restriction.