Does anyone rely fully on their Credit Union current account for day to day banking?

I wonder if they mean that if you lodge a third party cheque, and it bounces, that there is then a charge?
 
Brendan Burgess said:
They provide a current account but no debit card. So if I want cash, I have to go to the branch.
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This really depends on what exactly your definition of a "current account" is.

Capital Credut Union, along with most, provide full SEPA functionality, and Internet Banking. So you can make and receive payments, use your account for direct debits, etc. But there's no debit card.

Link it up with Revolut card, and you've free banking. But as @niceoneted mentioned, you don't have real-time transfer to Revolut, because you're relying on SEPA transfer cycles.

Here's directly from Capital CUs FAQs;

"The first is that we do offer a current account facility which is free of fees and charges. It operates in exactly the same way any current account does but just doesn’t have a debit card facility. Any direct debits can by routed through this and wages can be paid into your account with us as well. This means Members can use their account with us for their wages, savings and loans whilst using a free debit card account (e.g., Revolut) for their day-to-day banking. Our online facility allows Members to transfer to these external accounts at any time."
 
For those using it, how do you find the credit union online banking? We're thinking of moving to the credit union current account, from UB, as it seems to meet our relatively basic needs and has low fees. I use the UB online banking a lot so this feature is important to me.
 
I think it depends on which credit union you look at, there seems to be different offerings, from different credit unions.

For example, I see that Progressive CU offer a Debit Card, and you can potentially also have an Overdraft:

www.progressivecu.ie

Current Accounts

Simply tap and go with contactless payments thanks to a Current Account. Apple, Google & Fitbit pay now available.
www.progressivecu.ie www.progressivecu.ie

I have their app, but don't currently have their current account, only a share account. The app works fine, and looks like it could cater for the day to day requirements, if I had a current account with them (ie view transactions, transfer funds etc.)
 
MrEarl said:
I think it depends on which credit union you look at, there seems to be different offerings, from different credit unions.

For example, I see that Progressive CU offer a Debit Card, and you can potentially also have an Overdraft:

www.progressivecu.ie

Current Accounts

Simply tap and go with contactless payments thanks to a Current Account. Apple, Google & Fitbit pay now available.
www.progressivecu.ie www.progressivecu.ie

I have their app, but don't currently have their current account, only a share account. The app works fine, and looks like it could cater for the day to day requirements, if I had a current account with them (ie view transactions, transfer funds etc.)
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All current accounts come with a debit card regardless of the provider. Overdrafts are also a feature with all CU current accounts too (subject to approval etc. etc.).

In terms of the online banking, all credit unions offering current accounts have online banking and (I think) a mobile app. It will depend on which IT system they use, but both the main IT system providers have decent functionality that is on par with what the banks have. My credit union is on the Wellington system and I find the online banking fine. The app is a bit clunky but is grand for what I use it for. Not sure how they compare to UB's.
There are some differences between credit unions in terms of additional current account functionality. Some have Apple/Google Pay and others don't yet but by and large they operate identically to bank current accounts.
 
RedOnion said:
Here's directly from Capital CUs FAQs;

"The first is that we do offer a current account facility which is free of fees and charges. It operates in exactly the same way any current account does but just doesn’t have a debit card facility. Any direct debits can by routed through this and wages can be paid into your account with us as well. This means Members can use their account with us for their wages, savings and loans whilst using a free debit card account (e.g., Revolut) for their day-to-day banking. Our online facility allows Members to transfer to these external accounts at any time."
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@RedOnion Thanks for posting this. This option never crossed my mind. So, just off the phone with Capital CU. True enough - they confirmed I can set up my Direct Debits with them which is all I really need (I think) once KBC departs.

I don't need an overdraft facility or debit card or ATM facility or Apple Pay or mobile APP etc. Capital CU current a/c plus my existing N26 a/c may just about do it.

Thank you.
 
1dave123 said:
@RedOnion Thanks for posting this. This option never crossed my mind. So, just off the phone with Capital CU. True enough - they confirmed I can set up my Direct Debits with them which is all I really need (I think) once KBC departs.
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I'm a big fan of the Credit Union ethos, etc but I think they've caused some confusion about what's actually available to their members. Not only are there 2 groups of Credit Unions (ILCU and CUDA), but also each CU is independent and can choose which products/ software etc to use and provide.

Almost all CUs offer SEPA payments and online access. This is free.

Then there are 2 new products with full debit card support which are 'current accounts' provided together with 3rd parties, for which there is a charge of 4 euro per month.

Depending on your CU, they might sign up to either of:
CurrentAccount.ie or
MyCU.ie

Not all Credit Unions are offering these products. There might be other offerings in future.
 
RedOnion said:
I'm a big fan of the Credit Union ethos, etc but I think they've caused some confusion about what's actually available to their members. Not only are there 2 groups of Credit Unions (ILCU and CUDA), but also each CU is independent and can choose which products/ software etc to use and provide.
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Well said, they really could be an " independent" financial powerhouse for this country, but like everything else, parish pump politics still play too big a role.
And having experience with them I can't see it happening.
 
niceoneted said:
Brendan, I’m not sure on limits. I’ve it split between a share and like a budget account - which acts as the current account. I have all the direct debits coming off this latter account. If the balance builds up I transfer it to state savings or investment. The only negative I find is it’s a bit slow on transfers (2 days). But look when it’s free and you know this and your prepared it’s fine. Got my spouse to close all their bank accounts in the last month and move all their banking to the cu to save on charges.
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Brendan Burgess said:
I have a thread here comparing the current account offerings of AIB, BoI and ptsb:

Key Post - Which is the best current account for a personal customer?

As I pointed out in another thread, in the UK, Which? magazine would have a detailed survey of a few hundred customers and would rank the various offerings. I want to see if we can do that via Askaboutmoney. This is for personal accounts only and not "Which is best for business?" It should be...
www.askaboutmoney.com

But does anyone have a CU current account only and not use a bank account from one of the main banks?

Does it offer all the following:
Web based account management including payments
Smart phone account management
Debit Card
Withdraw cash from any ATM
Cheque book - but probably not necessary anymore

Is there any facility missing which you would expect on a current account?

Is there any additional facility which bank current accounts don't have?

Brendan
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Hi Brendan.

Im just wondering has anyone else found the Credit union banking terribly slow?
My issues started within a month of moving from Ulster bank. I have a subscription to Eir and keep updated on their app. For the last 3 months on my bill date i get conflicting messages between Eir and the CU of about 4 days regarding a request for funds and the transfer.
After many phone calls between the two, their appears to be atleast a couple of problems.

One problem that appears to be happening is, when Eir makes their request for funds they are also updating my bill information as paid.

The second problem that appears to be happening is, when the bank has had this request made of it, it is not informing my CU at that time, so its not appearing to me as a pending transaction. So for up to 4 days my Eir bill is paid and my CU funds are cleared, which ofcourse is untrue.

Thats what im being told and theirs no sense in it. I cannot talk to the bank which is inbetween! So as it stands the CU dont see the problem because they dont deal with third parties. How am i supposed to get this slow update of info rectified?

Any way i removed all funds from the nearest ATM as i was annoyed, got my cash, an ATM pending transaction from the CU and a referral fee on top of being overdrawn. None of this would have happened if AIB didnt have 15 yearold outdated data on me which prevented me from opening an account. I got it scrubbed so im going back on the months waiting list. Jokes on me i guess.
Regards
 
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