Ulster Bank to offer €150 to switch your current account

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CCOVICH

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No official info yet on the web yet, but I have heard the following:

Commencing Monday 26 February, UB will pay anyone who opens an account €150.

Customers will simply be required to switch and redirect their salary to an Ulster Bank current account to receive the cash incentive.

There are no minimum monthly lodgement requirements or other conditions making this offer easy and straightforward for customers.
 
So opening one, having salary paid to it, and then reverting to your old account (possibly including salary payment) could yield €150?
 
CCOVICH said:
No official info yet on the web yet, but I have heard the following:

Commencing Monday 26 February, UB will pay anyone who opens an account €150.

Customers will simply be required to switch and redirect their salary to an Ulster Bank current account to receive the cash incentive.

There are no minimum monthly lodgement requirements or other conditions making this offer easy and straightforward for customers.
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It's [broken link removed].

Seems a no-brainer, €150 "cash incentive" straight up, no strings, no conditions, apparently. :D
 
Does UB offer free tranactions on this account? What are their online facilities like re DDs, Mortgage payments into other accounts (PTSB specifically)?
 
Questions, questions... this offer is ostensibly for switching to UB which might suggest that you must fill in one of those current account switcher forms that switches an existing current account to UB and everything that goes with it (e.g. DDs etc.) rather than just going to UB, opening a new account and arranging to have your salary paid in but keeping your original "main" account?
 
This risks alienating existing UB customers. I wonder how many will close their accounts temporarily (BUPA-Quinn style) to avail of the payment when (re)opening the account?

This and the recent AIB 4% on current account balances deal are probably a pre-emptive strike against Halifax, who are rumoured to be introducing a similar payment incentive for opening a new account.

Personally these amounts are quite small when compared with the hassle of switching. Overall service levels of the bank and the online banking features are far more important to me. A continual focus on headline bank charges and "free banking" may lead us down a road of nominally free banking but with stealth fees for things like withdrawals from a different bank's ATM network.
 
has any one taken up this offer yet?
just wondering if its only your salary that you have to change to their bank and not credit cards,dd's etc?
 
Re: Ulster Bank to offer €150 to switch your current account

MugsGame said:
This and the recent AIB 4% on current account balances deal are probably a pre-emptive strike against Halifax, who are rumoured to be introducing a similar payment incentive for opening a new account.
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Happened to be in teh North saturday and noticed ad in Halifax window; 100sterling on opening/switching (can't remember which) current account with them ....
 
ClubMan said:
Questions, questions... this offer is ostensibly for switching to UB which might suggest that you must fill in one of those current account switcher forms that switches an existing current account to UB and everything that goes with it (e.g. DDs etc.) rather than just going to UB, opening a new account and arranging to have your salary paid in but keeping your original "main" account?
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It says clearly:
From 26 February until 31 March, all new customers opening a personal current account with Ulster Bank will automatically receive a €150 reward as well as getting one of the best current accounts on the market.
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But then adds:
To get your €150, just switch to an Ulster Bank personal current account and mandate your salary. [...] once you've switched, we'll credit your new Ulster Bank account with €150!
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Unclear, to say the least, but it looks like the €150 is contingent on you closing down another account. Under [broken link removed], it doesn't say anything about clawing back the €150 if you later go back to the 'enemy', though... and sure maybe by then the 'Big Two' will have devised their own PR counter-offensive? ;)

I can see payroll offices all over the country just loving this!
 
ClubMan said:
Wonder if I approach PTSB will they pay me €150 to stay? :)
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Apparently the offer has less to do with getting your business and more to get the detailed personal financial information you have to provide when opening a current account.
 
ClubMan said:
According to whom?
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Business section of the Sunday Times, an article by a guy called Mark Paul.
I quote..."The catch is the customer's salary must be paid into the account. Therein lies the rub. What the financial institution really wants is access to your paycheck. Read the fine print and the savings are modest, certainly compared to what is on offer in the mortgage war.
'A current account is the beginning of a relationship between a bank and a customer' says Patrick Farrell, head of product marketing at Ulster Bank. 'It's really just a transactional engine to service their daily needs. But with the details supplied with a current account opening we can find out what a customer's other needs are and to help them out if need be' "
 
Fair enough. Personally I wouldn't be paranoid about a bank having such details myself and at the moment not having a mortgage on which to make savings the €150 for potentially little hassle looks attractive.
 
ClubMan said:
Fair enough. Personally I wouldn't be paranoid about a bank having such details myself and at the moment not having a mortgage on which to make savings the €150 for potentially little hassle looks attractive.
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Presumably they've made an allowance in their calculations for people like us who might "abuse" their offer for want of a better word!
I think the central premise of the article is sound...they'll make a lot more money from the customer than the €150 it costs to "buy" that custom, even allowing for the buzzards.
 
I'm not sure what he means by 'the savings'; UB already had [broken link removed] personal banking. Yes, they will now know your salary — as does whichever bank you were having it paid into previously. And your mortgage lender. And your broker. And God knows who else...

The 'http://www.ulsterbank.ie/content/ri/personal/current_accounts/downloads/Personal_banking_terms.pdf (fine print)' hasn't changed, and all you need to apply for this €150 gimmick (which it is, but it beats a free desk calendar and a rubbish holiday voucher...) is the usual proof of identity.
Terms & Conditions of offer
  1. Offer available to all new current account customers opening a new Ulster Bank current account and mandating their salary to the new account. Offer also available to all new customers who switch their current account to Ulster Bank using the Ulster Bank centralised switching team.
  2. Offer is not available to existing Ulster Bank current account customers.
  3. Only one cash incentive per new account.
  4. Offer available to all customers meeting the above criteria who open their account between 26th February 2007 and 31st March 2007.
  5. Eligible customers will have €150 credited to their account on or before April 30th 2007.
  6. All current account applications are subject to acceptance by Ulster Bank; the relevant Ulster Bank current account terms and conditions will apply.
  7. Customers will not be entitled to avail of this offer if Ulster Bank deems, in its discretion, that the relevant account(s) has not been opened or used in accordance with these terms and conditions.
  8. This offer is subject to change; it may be withdrawn at any time.
  9. Offer not available to employees of the Ulster Bank Group of companies
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Like I said, I don't see anything there that could entitle UB to take back the €150 if you closed the account after a 'respectable' period. Also, and contrary to what I said earlier, (1) above makes clear that you don't have to blow off your other bank ...unless you want to, of course! And presumably, when the flow of junk mail starts arriving as UB tries to 'find out what your other needs are and to help you out if need be', you can opt out of it in the usual manner.

[Edit: They ain't met a buzzard like me yet! :D I think I might go for it too...]
 
Do you have to take any or all of ATM card, Laser card, chequebook on this account thus getting hit for SD? Do they offer online banking?
 
Actually - according to [broken link removed] it seems that you do have to switch from your old bank to UB. That wouldn't suit me personally for the sake of €150. If I could get €150 for simply opening an account, having my salary lodged,
 
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