Bank of Ireland Announce Interest Rate Increases

Lightning said:
Small update. I see The Irish Times are reporting that BoI will actually increase the Mortgage Saver rate to 2%. Not clear if the Goal Saver rate is changing too or not - their press release does not directly mention the Goal Saver product.
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I was curious about the Mortgage Saver and Goal Saver too. You’re correct that Mortgage Saver is mentioned in the press release and Goal Saver isn’t. There is also the following paragraph:
Is this Goal Saver renamed with the premium balance reduced from €15k to €12k, or some other product ? The current BOI rates sheet makes no reference to such a product and I’ve not heard of it previously.
 

I was wondering the exact same.

Bank of Ireland has no product called "Regular Saver" with 12k limit. BoI have either made a typo in their press release or they are referring to the Goal Saver with new conditions or it is a new product. I guess we will know on 8 September.
 
This is where they put the substantial influx of KBC account holders like me, I thought there was some malfunction as heard practically nothing from them even if I made a lodgment, actually had to call in to branch to see if I existed, no online unless you have an account with them, sounds like an issue for regulator or competition authority, naturally I receive no notice of these changes!
 
Agree. These rates will make no difference to someone with a decent lump sum to invest. The lack of competition in the Irish market is frustrating, as has been the difficulty in opening foreign bank accounts in our supposed EU single market for services. That's all changing now, though, and the rates available from online banks (not to mention investment brokers) puts the Irish market to shame. The only hurdle is the lack of deposit protection on large sums but protection in the Irish banks is limited too. I've certainly voted with my feet recently -- moved a large chunk from Bank of Ireland to a foreign broker account to earn 3% on what's effectively a demand deposit.
 
To correct my earlier comment, BOI have two 31 day notice accounts. (Lightyear has already listed details in best buys)

The 365 31 day access account can be applied for online:

365 31 Day Notice Application Form – Bank of Ireland Forms

form.bankofireland.com

I think ideally if you're applying you should decide now how much you want to transfer as they ask for the amount you want to transfer at the end, and you might not be able to add to it later.
 
Add in the paper today for BOI asking savers with lump sums to invest with it, so clever in its word usage they must have top quality advertising gurus at their disposal:

"An interest-ing fact about your savings - If you've got a lump sum, lump it into one of our savings accounts and earn up to 2% interest."

See that amazing word play - must have taken years of advertising college to reach that standard! While ignoring that you can beat their "interest-ing fact" by simply going to AIB/EBS for a better rate within Ireland.

Anyway, also states "Rate fixed for 12 months. 2% will appy thereafter." - has me confused - what are they saying here? 2% will apply forever if left at end term? In which case it's fixed for more than 12 months?
 
podgerodge said:
Anyway, also states "Rate fixed for 12 months. 2% will appy thereafter." - has me confused - what are they saying here? 2% will apply forever if left at end term? In which case it's fixed for more than 12 months?
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Presumably they mean it'll revert to the variable rate prevailing at the time and that's 2% at the moment?
 
ClubMan said:
Presumably they mean it'll revert to the variable rate prevailing at the time and that's 2% at the moment?
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I guess, but seems a very strange way of confirming a variable rate, specifying a rate after 2 years at which time the variable may not be 2%, contradicting the statement that "2% will apply thereafter"
 
The terms for the supersaver indicate you can have 2 accounts. Is there a catch as in total in both combined can't exceed 30k to get the 3%?
 
Stationfire said:
The terms for the supersaver indicate you can have 2 accounts. Is there a catch as in total in both combined can't exceed 30k to get the 3%?
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A warning... yes, there is a catch.

Having submitted the online form for a second account, I heard nothing for 7 days - no email, no SMS, nothing. I contacted 365online via the "messages" feature and was told my application was rejected, and then providing me with the link to the online application form and a phone number for the deposit team (which is invalid - no such number).
I phoned BOI 365 and after several transfers I spoke to someone who checked and said it wasn't rejected, but instead was on hold because they wanted to be sure I actually wanted a second account. Note: at this point nobody had contacted me to tell me this. They also stated it was not true that it had been rejected. They said they would note that I did want one, and would speak to the deposits team to ensure it gets opened etc.
I received a call a while later telling me that I'm not allowed two, because the second has to be a joint account, and that their T&Cs state this. I asked for the section and was told it's this:

(from section 1, item 1.3):
You can hold up to two SuperSaver Accounts with us.
A SuperSaver Account will count as one of the two SuperSaver Accounts that you can have if it is held: (a) by you alone; (b) by you and another person or people.
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I said that this item doesn't to me indicate that I can't have two accounts unless the second is a joint account. I asked that a complaint be registered, and was then phoned back to be told that they would raise the issue, but that I would receive no further contact as it's a complaint regarding the T&Cs. I asked them to raise the complaint also on the basis that I'm a customer who asked that they open a second account, and they refused, citing T&Cs which don't make it clear that this is the case.

Perhaps I misread the T&Cs, but to me they don't state this at all..
 
I happened to be “in branch” and hence enquired from someone who said they were familiar with the product. I was made to wait 20 minutes after providing details, and the staff member eventually said they couldn’t get through to anyone to understand the situation. They took my details and said they would call me. That was 2 days ago…
I actually feel like submitting another application, purely to waste their time.
Alas, we all know that we have limited choice in banks.
 
So, thanks to all the helpful and knowledgeable folk here on the forum, I have reconsidered and am now going to:
Open an AIB personal demand deposit account
Once I have this, I'm going to open 4 of their regular saver accounts and drip feed from the demand deposit account. That demand deposit account will be funded by my BOI account.
If they ever bother to follow up in my complaint at BOI, I'll let them know that they lost the funds to their competitor (not that they care, but you never know, perhaps it gets to the right person on the right day to prompt some change in their awful customer service).
Thank you again all.
 
Good idea to not give them your business. Far too many people just put up with the crappy service the banks give us. The only way they will learn is to lose customers in big numbers. I'm always amazed how many people will switch their gas or electricity provider yet won't change their bank to another.
 
@Stationfire I completely concur with your understanding of the BOI T&Cs - the words mean exactly what they say; you can have two BOI Super Saver accounts and both can be solo or joint accounts or a mix of the two. Period. I also understand your frustration with BOI and the temptation to go elsewhere. But that AIB product is garbage. The best two regular saver products at present are (1) PTSB’s “Online Regular Saver Account” and (2) BOI‘s Goalsaver Account its sibling BOI’s Mortgage Saver Account. These are far superior products to either BOI’s SuperSaver or AIB’s Online Regular Saver, both of which are more trouble than they are worth.
 
Thanks for the info - why are the BOI goal saver and mortgage saver accounts superior to their supersaver/AIB regular saver and listed second ? They are 2% interest.
In light of what has been reported in another thread, it seems AIB are playing games with terms and conditions too, and I'm now mindful of wasting my time with a branch visit .
I do wonder if I should raise the BOI issue with some regulator, but doubt they would care anyway.
 
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