Advanzia Bank Lux Paying 3.76% AER Instant Access for First 3 Months

Do you guys think it would be too risky to move all my savings (€35k in Trade Republic & €20k in Light-Year) into the Avanzia account for 6 months to avail of the higher interest rate? I'd still have around €10k in a separate emergency fund.
in theory, there is better protection with Advanzia as it's a bank (100k guarantee).
 
The only "English language version" that I have seen, which was a bit random until I turned it off, was Chrome trying to auto translate the German language site. Are you sure this isn't what you are seeing? One would think that if there is actually an English language version it would have a specific URL and could not be random?

There is the English language URL for opening the account and the setup definitely.

Can you elaborate on what is tortuous in relation to the logging in? All I do is type my account number, password and fill in a quick text verification process?
Maybe you're right, i never thought of it, but could Chrome be translating the whole login web page? The whole page looks the same except in perfect English, but why would Chrome do it ? And why would you turn it off (and how do you do it) ?
What I find tortuous is that the difficulty of navigating a Web page login dialogue on a phone screen, plus the error msgs are all in German which you got to cut and paste to DeepL to translate, plus (for me any way) the password seems becomes "invalid" every 2nd or 3rd time and needs to be changed.
 
No, the 5k is the minimum balance to open the ac, further deposits can be anything.
But it's not clear, if you draw down below the 5k balance, whether it's closed, or just pays no interest, maybe someone can answer that?

I think I read on the site that no interest is payable if the balance falls below €5k.

Can you open multiple accounts say 30 days apart and transfer the balance over from the first to the second once the six months period is up to extend the high interest rate.
 
I think I read on the site that no interest is payable if the balance falls below €5k.

Can you open multiple accounts say 30 days apart and transfer the balance over from the first to the second once the six months period is up to extend the high interest rate.
I'm guessing it would be for new customers only. But I can't imagine anyone (myself included) hanging around with deposits at 1-2% interest afterwards, unless they offer a new deal at that stage. And presumably if they want deposits now, they'll want them in 6 months.
 
Is this an on demand account which you can add more money to and withdraw from over the 6 month period and earn the full interest throughout the time. And keep a minimum 5000 in.
 
A couple of questions for those who have gone through the registration process:

I completed the application process about 4 hours ago and haven’t received the email that was supposed to be sent. Is this unusual ?

Based on the application confirmation screen, they want proof of id, proof of address and tax declaration form to be returned by email. This is a lot of personal data that could be invaluable in the wrong hands. Knowing how vulnerable email is to human error and attack by bad actors, I’m very slow to send such an email, and much more inclined to send it off by registered post. Just curious to know what others think ? Note I fully understand why they are requesting this kyc/aml/tax info, it’s the transmission method I have an issue with.
 
A couple of questions for those who have gone through the registration process:

I completed the application process about 4 hours ago and haven’t received the email that was supposed to be sent. Is this unusual ?

Based on the application confirmation screen, they want proof of id, proof of address and tax declaration form to be returned by email. This is a lot of personal data that could be invaluable in the wrong hands. Knowing how vulnerable email is to human error and attack by bad actors, I’m very slow to send such an email, and much more inclined to send it off by registered post. Just curious to know what others think ? Note I fully understand why they are requesting this kyc/aml/tax info, it’s the transmission method I have an issue with.
I agree it does seem rather insecure for such vital personal data, same with Trade Republic, Lightyear, Bunq etc. As well as what you mention they also know your Irish bank ac as well as your new ac. What individuals at the receiving end have sight of these emails? We never meet or speak to any of them.
I emailed Advanzia customer support to ask what is to stop a third party opening a false ac in your own name, lodging from that ac into your Advanzia ac in the same name thus making this new ac into a "reference ac" for withdrawals, and then withdrawing everything to this new ac. As seems their policy with all email queries, no reply. As far as I can see the only line of defence is the password, as the password change is secured on your email address. And can that be changed... ?
Maybe Germans and Luxembourgers are just very trusting.
 
I got an email and the funds were with Advanzia within 24 hours SEPA from AIB (cut off from AIB is 1pm)
Do you think if I did a bank transfer from N26 current account to Advanzia deposit account on the morning of the 14th, would it most likely be in the account by end of business on the 15th? I think N26 have a free "Standard Bank Transfer" option of 1-2 days and and "Instant Bank Transfer" option costing €0.99 but maybe worth the fee if I wanted to ensure the funds were lodged on a particular day.
 
Do you think if I did a bank transfer from N26 current account to Advanzia deposit account on the morning of the 14th, would it most likely be in the account by end of business on the 15th? I think N26 have a free "Standard Bank Transfer" option of 1-2 days and and "Instant Bank Transfer" option costing €0.99 but maybe worth the fee if I wanted to ensure the funds were lodged on a particular day.
I transferred from PTSB on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. Both payments hit the account this morning. Not sure if that's anything to go by.
 
Do you think if I did a bank transfer from N26 current account to Advanzia deposit account on the morning of the 14th, would it most likely be in the account by end of business on the 15th? I think N26 have a free "Standard Bank Transfer" option of 1-2 days and and "Instant Bank Transfer" option costing €0.99 but maybe worth the fee if I wanted to ensure the funds were lodged on a particular day.
In my experience all transfers from N26 are faster than you'd ever see between the Irish Banks, so the free transfer should have a very good chance of getting there by the next day. The 99c is for a SEPA Instant Transfer and on the few occasions I used it it did exactly what it said on the tin and reached the destination in minutes (Totally different animal to the Irish Bank's "Same Day Funds Transfer' BS for which they charge a ridiculous fee and still impose a raft of conditions)
 
Do you think if I did a bank transfer from N26 current account to Advanzia deposit account on the morning of the 14th, would it most likely be in the account by end of business on the 15th? I think N26 have a free "Standard Bank Transfer" option of 1-2 days and and "Instant Bank Transfer" option costing €0.99 but maybe worth the fee if I wanted to ensure the funds were lodged on a particular day.
Not sure if it helps but free transfer ex AIB (before 1pm) was received in Advanzia on the same day, so I think one business day is probably the norm for SEPA payments ex any bank these days.
AIB also do an "urgent" SEPA transfer for €20, which they say is no different from the free option, except in the case of "difficult" banks, or "difficult" countries like Algeria (!), but not needed for banks in Luxembourg, Germany, etc
 
I agree it does seem rather insecure for such vital personal data, same with Trade Republic, Lightyear, Bunq etc. As well as what you mention they also know your Irish bank ac as well as your new ac. What individuals at the receiving end have sight of these emails? We never meet or speak to any of them.
I emailed Advanzia customer support to ask what is to stop a third party opening a false ac in your own name, lodging from that ac into your Advanzia ac in the same name thus making this new ac into a "reference ac" for withdrawals, and then withdrawing everything to this new ac. As seems their policy with all email queries, no reply. As far as I can see the only line of defence is the password, as the password change is secured on your email address. And can that be changed... ?
Maybe Germans and Luxembourgers are just very trusting.
Edit (7th July)...
Reply received today from Advanzia...

"Unfortunately we cannot confirm what you are requesting for.

"In case someone opens an account in your name and pays into your Advanzia account you will be informed about the payment in as for all payments on your account.

"If this payment is not coming from you, contact us as soon as possible.

"Furthermore, the online service is only available in German for the moment. "
 
As far as I can see the only line of defence is the password, as the password change is secured on your email address. And can that be changed... ?
If someone found a way to hack into your account, they could also use the same method to hack into your emails, and thus change the email address associated with the account.

So there's no 2 factor authentication with this bank? That's a bit worrying and has somewhat turned me off.
 
Perhaps leave what you got in LY since the rate is already good (and will rise again with the next ECB rise), and maybe move 30k out of TR into Advanzia?

I have thought about this idea of leaving a certain percentage of my savings with Light-Year rather than transferring it all over to Advanzia.

Is the current 2.75% rate with Light-Year realistically going to rise beyond the Advanzia 3.4% over the next 6 months if it typically only increases by 0.25% each time there is an ECB rise?
 
I have thought about this idea of leaving a certain percentage of my savings with Light-Year rather than transferring it all over to Advanzia.

Is the current 2.75% rate with Light-Year realistically going to rise beyond the Advanzia 3.4% over the next 6 months if it typically only increases by 0.25% each time there is an ECB rise?
Maybe not, but is the hassle worth it? Only on a really large deposit would the interest difference warrant the hassle IMO, especially since in 6 months the Advanzia rate will go back down way lower than the Lightyear and you got to transfer it all back again
 
How do I transfer into the Advanzia account? I have my IBAN and BIC and also a 13-digit "Payment information" number which is the same as my Advanzia Account number. Is it just a matter of including this number in the reference field when sending the money from my N26 account to Advanzia?
 
How do I transfer into the Advanzia account? I have my IBAN and BIC and also a 13-digit "Payment information" number which is the same as my Advanzia Account number. Is it just a matter of including this number in the reference field when sending the money from my N26 account to Advanzia?
Yep that should be enough. Possibly not even the BIC as IBAN generally sufficient.
 
I emailed Advanzia customer support to ask what is to stop a third party opening a false ac in your own name, lodging from that ac into your Advanzia ac in the same name thus making this new ac into a "reference ac" for withdrawals, and then withdrawing everything to this new ac.

How would someone be able to open a bank account in a different name (your name) without photo identification?

Can you have multiple 'reference' accounts with your Advanzia account? If it's limited to just one, then that would eliminate the risk you mention.
 
How would someone be able to open a bank account in a different name (your name) without photo identification?

Can you have multiple 'reference' accounts with your Advanzia account? If it's limited to just one, then that would eliminate the risk you mention.
Well look, isn't that exactly the point - haven't we given our photo id when we apply - someone has it - who is that someone? Not anyone we have ever met. Haven't we with no difficulty at all opened this Advanzia account, in our own name, simply with a postal address (which is irrelevant) and our photo ID on our passport.
Anyone with those details can open a false account exactly the same in some other bank.
Then by making any lodgment to Advanzia this false account becomes a "reference" on our Advanzia account.
And that is my point because yes, you have multiple reference accounts to choose where to withdraw to!
When I asked can it be limited to one reference account (that would obviate the danger), they said no, it can not.
And that's why I think the email address must be the only safeguard against this, because that's the way any password change request is confirmed.

Interested in what others think please.
 
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