# Joint bank account



## mainie (29 Mar 2006)

My Boyfriend and I are buying a house together and need to set up a joint bank account so that we can put money for bills, mortgage etc. into that. Would another current a/c be the best type of account to open or is there another type that would be better? We were thinking of opening one with PTSB because of the free banking. Our mrtgage is with BOI and our current a/c's are with AIB and BOI. WOuld adding another bank to the equation make a differnec in terms of transfers etc?


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## Ravima (29 Mar 2006)

as far as I know, you will have to have a current account to pay the bills via direct debit, which is the easiest way. You should remember that both parties are liable for the whole of any debt, so be careful if agreeing an overdraft facility.


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## dermot2006 (29 Mar 2006)

I do believe her and her boyfriend are buying a house together, you make them sound as if they are strangers together when u warn them off being so careful about an overdraft. Lighten up a little!


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## irishlinks (29 Mar 2006)

Why not go the whole hog and just have 1 account instead of 3?  Just convert one of the existing accounts to a joint account.
Or close both and open a new joint one .


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## TarfHead (30 Mar 2006)

Ravima said:
			
		

> as far as I know, you will have to have a current account to pay the bills via direct debit..



Our joint account is a deposit account with Bank of Ireland and some of the utility company direct debits are mandated against it.


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## bsloe (30 Mar 2006)

BOI will probably insist that the mortgage be paid from their account but if you go with ptsb, do they have internet banking so u can transfer money in and out and be able to keep track of bill payments(very handy 3 months later). remember, you will have to pay stamp on each card you get for the account. I would say the best option would be to open with a bank with internet banking and have direct debits going from both accounts into it and have all bills being paid by direct debit from the joint account


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## ClubMan (30 Mar 2006)

dermot2006 said:
			
		

> I do believe her and her boyfriend are buying a house together, you make them sound as if they are strangers together when u warn them off being so careful about an overdraft. Lighten up a little!


 They are strangers in the eyes of the law which could be relevant if a split ever occurs. No harm in people pointing out such facts and the prudent approach to same, no matter how unromantic it might sound, if it helps others. Unmarried couples or others buying together should put in place a suitable legal agreement (e.g. see here) covering the purchase and what happens in the event of people deciding to do their own thing. Ditto for other shared assets and shared accounts etc. Married couples have certain statutory rights in this area.


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## deem (30 Mar 2006)

irishlinks said:
			
		

> Why not go the whole hog and just have 1 account instead of 3? Just convert one of the existing accounts to a joint account.
> Or close both and open a new joint one .


 
everyone is different on this issue, for me not a trust thing, but would find it difficult to buy gifts for partner from joint account, it would feel to me as if buying from their money.  I know its splitting hairs but each to their own. 

On the issue of which bank i opened a tsb account because of the no fees issue and got charged for going .18c overdrawn, also withdrawals in uk, over five day period, charged nearly 50euro.  just the little things that they dont tell you about.  I also found that(not sure in Dublin) but def in Portlaoise, Mullingar, Tullamore branches, they very rarely have more than one cashier, queues can be out the door.

The worst thing is that I moved from Ulster bank, who dont charge for uk withdrawals and they are also now advertising free banking.


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## conor_mc (30 Mar 2006)

For what its worth, myself and fiance opened a FreeBank current a/c with NIB, no fees as long as you keep at least €1 in it. Haven't been in an NIB branch since opening the a/c two years ago, their internet banking product is quite good imo. Better than PTSB (my own a/c) because it allows payee setup, payment scheduling etc. whereas with PTSB I have to call Open24 to set up a new payee.

Overdrafts etc - we each look after our own, no need to have a third one.


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## Joe1234 (30 Mar 2006)

bsloe said:
			
		

> BOI will probably insist that the mortgage be paid from their account



Can a bank insist that if you take a mortgage from them, then you must also have a current account with that bank to pay the mortgage?


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## michaelm (31 Mar 2006)

Joe1234 said:
			
		

> Can a bank insist that if you take a mortgage from them, then you must also have a current account with that bank to pay the mortgage?


If you want a NIB mortgage they insist you have a service account at the same branch.  The NIB Freebank A/c and <60% LTV mortgage combo are hard to beat.


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## Seagull (31 Mar 2006)

Joe1234 said:
			
		

> Can a bank insist that if you take a mortgage from them, then you must also have a current account with that bank to pay the mortgage?


No.


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## mainie (30 May 2006)

I still haven't set up a joint account but am wondering if it'll end up costing a bit to keep 3 accounts open? 
I mean, we'll pay all bills, mortgage and groceries etc. out of our joint a/c and we need to have our salaries going into it for it to be free so we're really only keeping the other a/c's open to pay for personal items, presents, clothes (me  ) etc. We'll need credit and laser cards for all accounts which could end up being expensive. Will I end up paying more fees on my own current a/c if my salary is no longer being paid into it? Am a bit confused now....


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## mell61 (31 May 2006)

myself and now husband set up an account with NIB free banking, as a previous saver said you never need to go into the bank, its all accessible online.
IN terms of setting up a joint account, it may be useful if it doesn't work out as proof that both of you contributed to the house - I'm not suggesting that it won't, but you need to make sure you have some claim on the house.
We set out all the bills that would need to be paid, ESB, Sky, Gas, mortgage, and then divided it based on our salary - so we both pay for examply 50% of our salaries into the account, but he actually pays more. 
Its worked well for us for the past 2 years, and when we got engaged it also doubled as the wedding fund!!!
We've both just set up standing orders for our split of the money to be taken on a specific date each month. It may be worth starting with a decent balance, be it Eu500-10000, so that you don't miss any payments while waiting for your standing order to lodge.
The NIB lets you set up a laser cards and cheques from teh account, which worked well for us.  We haven't had to pay anything except the government taxes, as we've kept in credit.


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## mainie (31 May 2006)

Thanks for the advice mell61. I was thinking of arranging ours in a similar way, i.e. arrange a standing order from each of our own accounts.
Is there any advantage of NIB over PTSB?


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## mell61 (31 May 2006)

At the time we set it up the NIB were the only ones offering free banking, so thats why we went there.
PTSB also offer a good free banking set up I believe, so in deciding which to go for, think about what can go wrong... if you need to lodge a cheque today which is easier for you to get to (my nearest NIB is about 15 miles away from home, and about about 15 min walk from work).   
It worth taking an hour or 2 once a month to go over the statements, to make sure that you are still covered.... are the bills what you expected them to be, or did you underestimate them.    You don't want to find that because all the bills fell due in the same week, you're going to end up paying charges because the funds weren't there.
We're also using this account to try and build up 3 x months worth of mortgages payments - separate from our contingency fund (for that one we went with the BOS monthly savings fund, so between us we have 2 x joint accounts, 3 personal accounts and 2 x credit union account...)


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## rkeane (31 May 2006)

Most banks offer free banking though if you are just careful with your spending.  If you can live within your means you can bank for minimum cost.


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## mell61 (31 May 2006)

I'd agree that you need to look at living within your means, but why pay charges if you don't have to....  I see friends paying Eu30 a quarter to some banks, while we have free banking with NIB, and these are people in control of their finances (not over draft fees, or late fees).   
Looking at past posts a lot of the free banking on offer is so tied up with jargon, use of debit cards, use of online transaction, minimum deposits, that you could very easily end up missing a 'requirement' and end up paying over the odds.
As far as I can see with NIB and PTSB they are the least convoluted set up for free banking (i'm open to correction by other posters if they know another good product).
At the end of the day Mainie would probably prefer to put the fees towards their bills / decorating / mortgage, than lining the pockets of a financial institute!


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## rkeane (31 May 2006)

mell61 said:
			
		

> I'd agree that you need to look at living within your means, but why pay charges if you don't have to....  I see friends paying Eu30 a quarter to some banks, while we have free banking with NIB, and these are people in control of their finances (not over draft fees, or late fees).
> Looking at past posts a lot of the free banking on offer is so tied up with jargon, use of debit cards, use of online transaction, minimum deposits, that you could very easily end up missing a 'requirement' and end up paying over the odds.
> As far as I can see with NIB and PTSB they are the least convoluted set up for free banking (i'm open to correction by other posters if they know another good product).
> At the end of the day Mainie would probably prefer to put the fees towards their bills / decorating / mortgage, than lining the pockets of a financial institute!


But I think online transactions and debit cards are the way to go.  plus, not having an overdraft facility is a must.  AIB may throw in a few extra requirements but that should be incentive to pay closer attention to your finances.  Its as important (if not more so) than your job.


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## Marianne S (1 Jun 2006)

Just a word about PTSB, I moved from BOI about 6 months ago because of their free fees and I'm sorry now that I did. Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

My branch is in Kimmage and when I have to go in there are only ever 3 or 4 people working, including the manager. The day I opened the account I had an appointment but the manager was busy so the person on customer services had to open the account with me, leaving the customer service desk unattended, phones ringing out and only one cashier. I should have turned around and walked out.

They also seem to have a casual dress policy which goes very well with their unprofessional attitudes. I am NOT a happy PTSB customer, stay with the bigger banks, most of them have free fees now anyway, albeit with some terms and conditions.

BTW my boyfriend and I will be in the same position soon, buying a place and opening a joint account so I've been following your thread with interest


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## mainie (1 Jun 2006)

Thanks for the advice. Since I'm already with AIB and my boyfriend is with BOI we might have a look at their options. Could be easier in the long run I guess. At the moment I don't pay fees since I'm finishing off paying a student loan. I do get the fees taken out and then refunded to my a/c every quarter though and it never seems to be more than about €16/17 so maybe I should just stick with AIB.... That sounds reasonable enough to me. Its only about a fiver a month


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## askalot (1 Jun 2006)

bsloe said:
			
		

> BOI will probably insist that the mortgage be paid from their account


 
I had a BOI account and a loan from them which was paid out of the account. I wanted to close the BOI account and switch the loan repayments to my AIB account. At first BOI said I couldn't. I told them there was no way I was going to keep the account open just to process the loan payments. They called me back an hour later and said OK, though they still seemed to think they were doing me a favour!

Is it be legal for a bank to insist that the mortgage is paid out of their account?


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## rkeane (1 Jun 2006)

askalot said:
			
		

> I had a BOI account and a loan from them which was paid out of the account. I wanted to close the BOI account and switch the loan repayments to my AIB account. At first BOI said I couldn't. I told them there was no way I was going to keep the account open just to process the loan payments. They called me back an hour later and said OK, though they still seemed to think they were doing me a favour!
> 
> Is it be legal for a bank to insist that the mortgage is paid out of their account?


I have a term loan with BOI and when i switched the term loan account remained open and direct debit switched to AIB.  Is that not the same thing?


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## askalot (1 Jun 2006)

rkeane said:
			
		

> I have a term loan with BOI and when i switched the term loan account remained open and direct debit switched to AIB. Is that not the same thing?


 
Sounds like it. So you had no problem?


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## rkeane (1 Jun 2006)

nope, AIB rock.  Sorted everything out for me.


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## irishpancake (1 Jun 2006)

mainie said:
			
		

> Thanks for the advice. Since I'm already with AIB .......... I do get the fees taken out and then refunded to my a/c every quarter though and it never seems to be more than about €16/17 so maybe I should just stick with AIB.... That sounds reasonable enough to me. Its only about a fiver a month



AIB offer a Transaction-Free Account now. Why pay even a fiver/month?

see [broken link removed] for details.


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## mainie (1 Jun 2006)

Yeah, I just looked that up so I think am gonna open another AIB a/c that will be used as a joint a/c.

Just one question, PTSB told us that you only get the free fees if its your main a/c, i.e your salary is paid into it. I'd rather keep my own a/c for that and then both of us would transfer a sum into the joint a/c monthly. Would this be possible to do with AIB? i.e Can I have another current a/c with them that my salary isn't paid into?


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## rkeane (1 Jun 2006)

mainie said:
			
		

> Yeah, I just looked that up so I think am gonna open another AIB a/c that will be used as a joint a/c.
> 
> Just one question, PTSB told us that you only get the free fees if its your main a/c, i.e your salary is paid into it. I'd rather keep my own a/c for that and then both of us would transfer a sum into the joint a/c monthly. Would this be possible to do with AIB? i.e Can I have another current a/c with them that my salary isn't paid into?


thats interesting.  dont know if you can do it with AIB but PTSB have went down in my book if thats what they are doing.  as has that guy from the sopranos.


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## confusedchic (1 Jun 2006)

Quote:
Originally Posted by *mainie*
_Yeah, I just looked that up so I think am gonna open another AIB a/c that will be used as a joint a/c._

_Just one question, PTSB told us that you only get the free fees if its your main a/c, i.e your salary is paid into it. I'd rather keep my own a/c for that and then both of us would transfer a sum into the joint a/c monthly. Would this be possible to do with AIB? i.e Can I have another current a/c with them that my salary isn't paid into?_


Hi, I found the same problem with PTSB. I don't want my wages going into a joint account either. Anyone know if this is the same situation with NIB? Or do you know of a bank that doesn't require the joint account to be the main account?


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## mell61 (1 Jun 2006)

NIB didn't require myself and hubby to pay salaries in - we opened the account about 2 years ago, so it may hav echanged in the interrim...


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## irishpancake (2 Jun 2006)

mainie said:
			
		

> Yeah, I just looked that up so I think am gonna open another AIB a/c that will be used as a joint a/c.
> 
> Just one question, PTSB told us that you only get the free fees if its your main a/c, i.e your salary is paid into it. I'd rather keep my own a/c for that and then both of us would transfer a sum into the joint a/c monthly. Would this be possible to do with AIB? i.e Can I have another current a/c with them that my salary isn't paid into?



I can see nothing in their Personal Account Fees and Charges brochure which says you must have your salary paid into the account to avail of the Free Fees option.

Also, be aware that there are qualifying conditions with AIB, 



> How can I qualify?
> 
> Personal Current Account customers# who hold an AIB Debit Card and are registered for AIB Phone & Internet Banking can qualify for free maintenance and transaction banking on that account by completing the following transactions on the account:
> 
> ...



And, you are charged for Overdraft arrangement and renewal.


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