What is it in at the moment (e.g. deposits, bonds, equities etc.) and why do you have such a large chunk of your savings with a single financial provider?Still, it represents three quarters of all the money I have in the world.
So wouldn't you be cutting off your nose to spite your face?This action will cost me since the interest rate only improves in the 5th and 6th years - just less than three years from now.
Thanks for all the sensible advice, I won't do anything stupid and do understand that I should only do what is in my best financial interest. I suppose I let myself get wound up due to all the recent adverse publicity about EBS. In answer to CM's Q, the money is locked in to a six years Sure Certs plan and can only be removed in total or part on the six month anniversary of the opening date. If I didn't adhere to that, I would loose any interest gained in that period. The next one is July 2007 with a further 2.5 years to go. As to why I went to EBS in the first place it was done in a hurry which for personal reasons I can't explain. In the first three years the interest paid was 9.25% before DIRT and inflation. Not great. In the current 6-month period it's only 2% increasing to 2.25% from July to next January bringing the full year to 4.25%. With Northern Rock paying 4.3% with no restrictions, it's easy to see why I'm dithering. The interest paid in the remaining two years will be a cumulative 11.5% which of course looks good but if ECB rates rise by more than 0.5% in the near-ish future, the whole scenario might change.Originally Posted by ClubMan
What is it in at the moment (e.g. deposits, bonds, equities etc.) and why do you have such a large chunk of your savings with a single financial provider?
Loathe as I am to admit it I have to agree that the performance of the Chairman, Mark Moran, at yesterday's AGM was pretty impressive. For the most part he was never fazed and was very authoritative in his control of an explosive meeting. He has to be given credit for that and, who knows, maybe things will change under his leadership. He certainly had a baptism of fire. He also repeatedly said that the views expressed by the members would be taken on board. Time will tell. Still, he can't change the terms of the plan I'm in so I will continue to do the sums and monitor the best rates on offer. While I wouldn't anticipate a big crash it does appear likely that predictions beyond a year would be foolish.Originally Posted by Silvamuppet
I probably share your lack of appreciation for the Chief Exec and the current board. There has however been some decent discussion on the fact that the new Chairman of the board might actually be worth his salt and could solve this mess
Makes perfect sense and thanks for that advice.Originally Posted by TDON
....so it would be a shame if you gave them an opportunity to profit from you as opposed to the other way around. Hope this makes sense to you. Does to me.
...
PS I'm not totally stupid, I will leave enough to remain a member - the bare minimum.
Why can you not explain why you made this decision?As to why I went to EBS in the first place it was done in a hurry which for personal reasons I can't explain.
The reasons I had to make the lodgement in a hurry are stilll personal but if you mean why did I choose EBS, then the answer is simple - brand image. I'd never had a mortgage with EBS but for whatever reason I'd always had the impression that, compared to others, EBS was the most ethical and upright mortgage institution. A powerful brand image is worth it's weight in gold and I believe that still holds good in a lot of peoples' eyes as far as EBS is concerned and will continue to do so for quite sometime to come - loathe as I am to say that.Originally Posted by ClubMan
Why can you not explain why you made this decision?
Silvamuppet: I still fail to see what difference there is in expectations of mutual customers, if EBS "offer" other services surely the members have a choice in wether to buy them or not!!
They can jusge the value for themselves, if B.Societies are restrictred to selling loans (mortgages) and savings accounts then there stream of income would be very narrow and also very vunerable.
I think the most a BS member can expect is Fair value in total... otherwise why would anyone bother borrowing or savings with a bank???
In relation to the switching of prioduct providers:
MBNA I have no love for as I had a CC for years with them .. now have an AIB one... but on checking .. it turns out that EBS / MBNA offer is better than what I am gettting with AIB
Re GE money: I checked again for their rates via local office... their Members Loan rate for car loan is cheaper than the GE own product!!
I asked if this made me a member?? it does not as they explained this service is offered to allow non mortgageholders to avail of small to medium sized personal loans (that EBS by law cannot do on their own) .. which I thought was fair enough..
You also said that savers in ebs are members which in a bank would make them shareholders... this is TOTALLY untrue...to be a share holder you MUST risk your money and purchase shares... at your own expense... IMO a very different prospect.. considering that even when you have purchased shares your vote (if any) would I imagine be related to the size of your holding... with EBS /INBS your membership gets you one vote regardless of the size / level of savings. without any risk of your on money on shares..
Fraid not. It's country wide. And there are a LOT of them. The EBS has been slowly going towards a tied agent model for the last few years. I think within the next 5 years they might manage to off load all but a handfull. It's possibly not visible as the agents still maintain the EBS logo and sell the ebs products. But branches I can think of off the top of my head are Grafton St, clare st, andrew st, westmoreland st and liffey street in the city centre alone (think they might have reopened liffey st within the last few months). Dont think ANY of these went tied agent...ie they're gone completly. Think Crumlin, Dalkey, Blackrock, Killiney and Bray all went within the last year although as tied agents so there might still be an office with the logo there. I know there are a lot more but I'm not totally up to date, but these are branches I would have frequented myself depending on where I worked at any one time.As for offices closing... I did not know they had closed any... must be Dublin based offices.. and even then I asume you are talking no more than 5 or 6 if that..
I'll agree with you here. Not a demutualisation fan myself. I'll happily forgo the 5 to 15K that a demutualisation might give to have a rate on my mortgage that is nicely better than most of the other players. Ditto on the savings.times have changed people have gotten very greedy and expectations seem to be out of proportion
when the real issue is one that the Board will have to sort out... Some good may come of this at some level as you can be damned sure teh Board will operate ina very clear transparent manner from now on... and who knows maybe they will once again take the lead in offering best value overall..
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