30 Credit Unions to offer current accounts

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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www.rte.ie

Credit unions to offer current account services

Dozens of credit unions across the country are gearing up to take on the banks by offering current accounts for the first time.
www.rte.ie www.rte.ie

From today, a total of 30 credit unions with 115 branches nationwide will begin rolling out a full range of current account services, including a Mastercard debit card, standing orders, direct debits and overdrafts to members.

The development follows the coming together of some of the country's biggest credit unions to create a shared services company called Payac Services, which will trade under the Currentaccount.ie name.


www.currentaccount.ie
 
Here is the current list

Participating Credit Unions |Current Account from Your Credit Union

You can browse the list of participating Credit Union here. If your Credit Union is not listed than they do not offer Current Account service currently.
currentaccount.ie currentaccount.ie

Altura - Wicklow
Athenry
Bray
Cara - Kerry
INTO
Core Dun Laoghaire
Croi - Kildare
Douglas
Drogheda
Dubco Malahide
First South - Cork
Killarney
Life - Maynooth
Link - Kingscourt
Skibereen
Mullingar
Progressive - Balbriggan
Public Services
Savvi - Ringsend
St Joseph's Aviation
St Canice's Kilkenny
St Dominic's Waterford
St Pauls' Garda in Cork
Synergy - Cork
Tipperary
Tower - Clondalkin
Tullamore
Waterford
 
Can they really afford to be entering such a crowded market which is notorious for the lack of switching?
 
It looks like a flat fee of €4 a month so €48 a year.

As you would expect from your credit union, Current Account has simple and transparent pricing. A low monthly fee of €4.00 applies and that covers unlimited Euro point of sale and contactless transactions, unlimited mobile and online banking and unlimited standing orders and direct debit processing and up to five Euro ATM withdrawals per month.
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Not sure how this compares but a flat charge would suit someone with a lot of transactions I guess.
 
24601 said:
Can they really afford to be entering such a crowded market which is notorious for the lack of switching?
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Its not that crowded a market, it's largely a monopoly between 2 banks. UK probably have 2-3 times as many high street bank as we have. Also many towns have lost their bank branches so an alternative would and could be attractive and even where bank branches are open, the reduction in services they offer may also make this more attractive.
 
Peanuts20 said:
Its not that crowded a market, it's largely a monopoly between 2 banks. UK probably have 2-3 times as many high street bank as we have. Also many towns have lost their bank branches so an alternative would and could be attractive and even where bank branches are open, the reduction in services they offer may also make this more attractive.
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That's all the more reason to stay out of this market. If PTSB, KBC, Ulster etc. can't get a foothold what chance do credit unions have? As a nation we're notorious for not switching current account providers. In fact, people show total inertia for changing mortgage providers even when it can save them thousands so what makes them think people will be arsed switching to save €30 or €40 a year at most? I reckon this will be a big expensive flop.
 
340,000 people have opened accounts, and in some cases use it as a current account, with Revolut inside the last 3 years.

30,000 have opened bank accounts with N26.

KBC have around 200,000 current account customers from zero about 6 years ago.

Bunq, Moneese, N26, Revolut, KBC and now credit unions have entered the market in the last few years.

EBS offer condition-free free-banking with no usage caps nor minimum balances.

Current account competition is not dead.
 
The credit union offering is not market-leading in terms of fees.

The credit union offering is also not market-leading in terms of innovation. No mobile app (that I can see of) and no mobile payments nor the kind of services that people are getting used to with Revolut.

Little reason to recommend this product.
 
Credit unions are just so dated.... I doubt many AAM users will be availing of this new service.
 
Here's how they'll gain traction. No charges for students or pensioners. It's up to each individual CU to offer concessions.

From Altura CU:
"
Concessions:

Students aged 16 to 25 years inclusive may be eligible to apply for a fee concession if they are pursuing a verified full time (21+ hours per week) course of study for one or more years.



Senior Members aged 66 years and over may receive a fee concession where there is a verified date of birth on their account."

NoRegretsCoyote said:
The FAQ section says it has an app.

I doubt it's cutting edge either for functionality or UI.
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That one time you were in a credit union really scarred you!

Most of the CUs involved already have mobile apps. They vary from basic to pleasant UI. This new account will be integrated to existing apps. The standalone app, I assume is provided by the service provider (the card is just a white label service from a company in Gibraltar).

I'm not sure what features you expect from a current account App that you doubt are available? You can see balance, transactions, and make transfers.
 
RedOnion said:
Most of the CUs involved already have mobile apps. They vary from basic to pleasant UI. This new account will be integrated to existing apps. The standalone app, I assume is provided by the service provider (the card is just a white label service from a company in Gibraltar).

I'm not sure what features you expect from a current account App that you doubt are available? You can see balance, transactions, and make transfers.
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As you ask, other features include push notifications, editing personal information, option to log service requests, request written statement, set-up of alerts, search transactions with filters, cancelling of direct debits, etc. Maybe their app will have these but I suspect as it won't have many as it will be basic enough so that it works across all existing systems. For me the mobile app is how I do 90% of by banking these days and I'd tolerate higher charges for a really nice app.


Don't get me wrong, I think this is a good move by the CUs as it enhances their viability. It will also get more people 'banked' than is currently the case as some people are more likely to approach a CU than a retail bank.
 
NoRegretsCoyote said:
I suspect as it won't have many as it will be basic enough so that it works across all existing systems
Click to expand...

Some of the credit unions involved already allow address changes via their App, and some of the other features you mention.
All the credit unions involved are using the same core system (provided by a 3rd party), so integration is straight forward in that it only has to be done once and works for all of them.

I haven't seen the app, so not sure what it has, so we're both guessing here. I'm just basing it on more than a single visit to a credit union.
 
This is welcome but I am surprised at the pricing not being more competitive. I wonder if there are concerns about too large a take up of this product where you could have credit unions sitting on huge current account balances without the proper infrastructure and expertise to manage them. Having said that, this is exactly the type of service that credit unions should offer. If Banks want to close their branch network, then credit unions should be allowed step in and fill the gap. I would imagine there are a lot of small towns and villages that will welcome this. I don't think it is disruptive enough to drive a shift away from the main banks and other methods but very welcome all the same.
 
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