Deposits for non residents

Hi

I have €20000 to save for one or two years. However I live in the North now and don't want to lose money in a currency exchange. I tried opening a saving account with Nationwide UK Ireland but you have to be resident in Rep of Ireland. They suggested their Isle of Man division but I'm unsure what to do. I'd love suggestions from the good people on here. There are bound to be options I'm unaware of and probably DIRT implications if I can even save in the South etc

What would you do? Thank you in advance- at this stage I've read enough to bamboozle myself !

Cheers
Cat

Hi,

If you live in NI why do you want to open an account in the ROI?

Hi CiaranT,

My savings are in euro and I dont want to change it to sterling cos of the loss in exchange rate. (I've been assuming I have to change it to sterling to save in NI- is that wrong?)

Its in euro cos I'm from the West, moved North two yrs ago cos married a Northener

redcassie said:

Hi CiaranT,

My savings are in euro and I dont want to change it to sterling cos of the loss in exchange rate. (I've been assuming I have to change it to sterling to save in NI- is that wrong?)

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Most banks in NI will accept EUR deposits and put them in a EUR account. You do not need to open a ROI bank account.

Hi

I called into 6 banks here in Newry and none would take a € deposit account but they did tell me to go online to their offshore/international divisions. One teller even said 'here's the number but the rates are really poor' ! Was there a bank in particular you know off CiaranT?

Thanks

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Euro accounts are available from most high street bank branches in the UK. Barclays, Lloyds TSB and Bank of Scotland offer euro current accounts if linked to sterling accounts and the Royal Bank of Scotland (including NatWest) and HSBC will provide stand-alone euro accounts to new and existing clients.

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I am a non resident. I opened a non resident savings account and a checking account with one of the major Irish banks last year. (Am Irish originally, but have lived in the States for 20 years.) It was very easy. As long as you have all the proper paperwork.

I needed the following to open non resident bank accounts:

1. My PPI number. If you have ever worked and paid taxes in the Republic, you will have one. If you have no idea what yours is, make a quick phone call to the Dept of Social Welfare, and they can look it up for you. I was given mine over the phone. They offered to mail me a copy of mine too. I declined, but it can't hurt to take them up on their offer and have it officially on paper if you are ever asked for it.

2. Two utility bills proving that I maintained a home out of the Republic. They had to have MY full name and address on them. I used my US gas and electricity bills, but a telephone or cable TV bill etc, would have worked just as well. If these are in your wife's name, get them in your name or in both of your names if possible.

3. Two pieces of government issued photo ID. There was a slight hiccup with the photo ID's, as the bank wanted both of them to have my address on them, as well as my name. I used my drivers license and my passport. I was ok with the license as that had my US address on it, but the passport did not. As I was opening the account in the bank branch that my mother banked at for years, the branch manager knew my mother, and knew that I lived in the States, he was willing to sign off on me opening up the account, even though the second form of ID did not have my US address on it. So you may want to make sure that you have the photo ID situ sorted before you get going.

That is all it took. I put 50 quid in the accounts there and then, and my accounts were officially opened. When I got back to the States, my laser card, check book and first statement were all waiting for me on the doormat. Easy peasy !

But the BEST PART !!! No DIRT. Yep, that is right. As a non resident, you do not have to pay the DIRT on any interest that you earn in a savings account in the Republic. Pretty cool huh?

Hope that helps.

Hi beffers,

Thats great, thanks. Can I ask you could you do that with a any account or just current accounts do you know? Cheers Cat

Sorry just reread your msg and spotted the answer! Can I ask which bank?

beffers said:

3. Two pieces of government issued photo ID. There was a slight hiccup with the photo ID's, as the bank wanted both of them to have my address on them, as well as my name. I used my drivers license and my passport. I was ok with the license as that had my US address on it, but the passport did not. As I was opening the account in the bank branch that my mother banked at for years, the branch manager knew my mother, and knew that I lived in the States, he was willing to sign off on me opening up the account, even though the second form of ID did not have my US address on it. So you may want to make sure that you have the photo ID situ sorted before you get going.

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This is really a most ridiculous demand and one that is impossible for most people to satisfy! The only government-issued forms of photo-ID accepted by banks are passports and full driving licences. And passports don't have addresses on them!
Not to mention that not everybody has a driving licence...

Some countries may issue national ID cards with addresses on them, but by no means all, and Ireland itself doesn't, so this demand for two forms of photo ID with address make it impossible for most people to open non resident accounts in this bank. Never heard of such ridiculous demands before!

Usually two forms of ID are required, one photo ID (with or without address), another with proof of address. Though some institutions are demanding several proofs of address, but I never before heard of anybody demanding more than one form of photo ID (as not everyone has a driving licence, so then they have only passport), and demanding two photo IDs with address is utterly ridiculous.

I agree, their demands did strike me as more than a bit unworkable, but what can you do? The power is in their hands. Banks seem to presume that all new customers that walk in the door are international drug dealers trying to launder money, unless proved otherwise.

redcassie, it was Bank of Ireland.

I live in the UK now and I managed to open a savings account in Bank of Ireland a couple of years ago by showing my passport and a UK utility bill in my name. Not sure what I'd do if they demanded two photo IDs with address, as my point is it's not just over the top, but simply impossible to provide. They may as well ban non-residents accounts altogether or demand that I show them a flying pig with two photo IDs with address...

Probably the only people who could provide two photo IDs with address would be drug dealers and fraudsters with fake IDs

My guess is your bank manager was just incompetent (I have seen incompetent bank managers in my life) who didn't really know the requirements, so was making ridiculous demands "just to be on the safe side", then letting you open the account "as a favour".

I am glad you managed to get what you wanted but incompetent bank managers and staff do annoy me...

I also don't have two photo id with current address! Thanks for bank info breffers