NTMA increases rates for State Savings products

Freelance said:
@fayf - Doesn't N26 also have an inner per transaction limit as well ?
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Double checked that with support, and they said yes, you can do a €20,000 card individual card transaction on say 1st of the month, but advised, would need to watch out for any scheduled /direct debit card payments for post 1st of month. which would fail, as the monthly limit has already been reached. The 20k card limit cannot be increased, but can be reduced.

The limit resets, on 1st of following month.

For me, this is not an issue as would likely be under 20k, but handy to know what the limits are.
This is all on the standard, free banking N26 card, by the way
 
fayf said:
Double checked that with support, and they said yes, you can do a €20,000 card individual card transaction
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That's interesting @fayf. I had checked this previously and was told that N26 was €5,000. See here

So assuming that is correct that current Debit Card transaction limits are BOI (€25,000 transaction and daily limit), AIB (€5,000 limit per transaction, €7,000 total per day), N26 (€20,000 transaction and monthly limit), PTSB (€2,500transaction limit), EBS (€2,000 transaction limit), or Revolut (€5,000 per 96 hours)

By way of comparison Ulster Bank was €50,000

In reality, if purchasing large amounts of state savings products, BOI and N26 are the only two which are practical.
 
I was able to get around Ulster Bank's daily card limits a few years back by writing a 50,000 cheque to NTMA and using it to buy my state savings products in An Post GPO O'Connell St
 
The recent posts are specifically, about, buying state savings, on their online platform, which only works, with immediate instant card payments.

The online statesavings website(once setup as a single user), facilitates, paperless state saving purchases, no writing cheques, and no certificates/ paper, or manual form filling, and enables refunds to your bank account, takes about 5 to 7 working days, without any forms to be filled in, or to be posted, or cheques to lodge.
 
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Something perhaps to bear in mind with State Savings, it took over a month for me to get my savings bond from them to my bank account. I went to withdraw the money I had so that I could reinvest in a higher percentage. Was a nightmare, so many calls, no real apology forthcoming.
 
Original said:
Something perhaps to bear in mind with State Savings, it took over a month for me to get my savings bond from them to my bank account. I went to withdraw the money I had so that I could reinvest in a higher percentage. Was a nightmare, so many calls, no real apology forthcoming.
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In the interests of balance, the wife and I successfully encashed a mixture of Savings Certs and National Solidarity Bonds earlier this month. All 10 encashments were lodged directly and painlessly to our bank account within a period of 10 working days. But we are both registered with State Savings online with a validated bank account which, presumably, makes the process a lot easier.
 
My online state savings account has been in operation since the facility was introduced and is used frequently to buy and sell products, in particular prize bonds. I used the online cash-in option to encash 6 bonds on 8th Sept, thinking I was giving myself plenty of time to have the money in my account by 1st October to start reinvesting.

Two landed in my bank a/c on 14th Sept. The next two on 19th Sept. and the final two on 25th Sept but only after I hounded them.

In detail: All six requests were entered in the space of 10 mins (the e-mail acknowledgments I received confirm this). The first two repayments landed in my account on 14th Sept. The next two on 19th Sept. They then e-mailed me in respect of the final two, and asked me to send them photo id (e.g. the picture page from my passport showing my DOB) BY EMAIL in order to redeem the final two. I phoned them and chewed them up, pointing out the danger and risks associated with asking for photo id to be sent by e-mail. I asked if they had a secure upload facility, and the response was yes we do: “you take a picture of your passport with your phone and upload it to an e-mail and send it to repayments@statesavings.ie”. Needless to say I did nothing of the sort and asked for a secure alternative. Was promised a call-back which never materialised. Phoned again the following day and as soon as I asked for details of their formal complaints procedure the requirement for photo id disappeared. The final two landed in my bank account on 25th Sept. The final four were for identical amounts, so there is no logic or consistency to the request for photo id, which they have on file anyway from the time my account was set-up.

They also ignored a change of bank account, successfully carried-out online on 14th Sept and confirmed by them in writing on the 15th Sept. All six repayments landed in the original account.

You’d have to wonder if their PI insurance covers them for the consequences of asking for identity documentation to be sent by e-mail. I suspect not. You’d also wonder why they don’t make their online reinvestment option available when cashing-in, and save everybody, themselves included, a lot of wasted effort. Currently this is restricted to matured holdings. At the same time you’d have to be grateful for the online facility as it saves having to complete those bloody awful forms and deal with them one on one basis a lot more often.

While I like State Savings products, any time I have to deal with them directly I find them be slow moving, gaff prone and hidebound by weak, poorly though out and inconsistent procedures.
 
Freelance said:
The Terms and Conditions allow for early repayment in the following circumstances: Death, Bankruptcy, Offset by AIB against other monies owed by you. That's it. There is no mention of Emergency, Hardship etc. So you would be appealing to AIB's better nature, and at their sole discretion, in looking for early repayment. You would face a high bar in the earlier days, however the chances of getting early withdrawal would improve in the final year because of the potential bonus to the bank in retaining the interest "earned to date".

Realistically, this is a fix term product and you should treat this money as gone for the duration. The terms and conditions are here :

https://aib.ie/content/dam/aib/pers...posit/AIB-Personal-Fixed-Term-Deposit-TCs.pdf
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PTSB allow early withdrawal on fixed term deposits for a "withdrawal fee" which isn't specified on the webpage I saw it on..

However, I found this, which may still apply (someone clever can work out an example of the losses!)

Fixed Term Deposits. The early withdrawal charge is (1% x Amount withdrawn x Remaining term) ÷ 365
Or an amount equal to the funding loss (if applicable), whichever is the greater. A minimum of €20 applies.
Funding Loss is calculated using the formula (AxTxD) ÷ 365 where: A = the amount withdrawn, T = the remaining term,
D = the difference in the prevailing market rate of interest for a term equivalent to the period remaining and the rate
applicable at the date of opening the account
 
podgerodge said:
PTSB allow early withdrawal on fixed term deposits for a "withdrawal fee" which isn't specified on the webpage I saw it on..

However, I found this, which may still apply (someone clever can work out an example of the losses!)
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It's specific to PTSB, they are the only Irish bank offering fixed term deposits who have a contractual entitlement to early full withdrawal.
The withdrawal fee works the same as a fixed rate mortgage, but inverse (if funding rates increase you pay a fee, if they drop you shouldn't).
 
RedOnion said:
It's specific to PTSB, they are the only Irish bank offering fixed term deposits who have a contractual entitlement to early full withdrawal.
The withdrawal fee works the same as a fixed rate mortgage, but inverse (if funding rates increase you pay a fee, if they drop you shouldn't).
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And presumably retain the interest accrued to date of withdrawal (less charge)?
 
Currently showing on statesavings.ie when you try to sign in.

State Savings Online is unavailable​

We are working to resume service as quickly as possible. Please try again later. We apologise for any inconvenience.​

I wonder are they struggling under the volume of people trying to purchase the new offerings!
 
Ceist Beag said:
Currently showing on statesavings.ie when you try to sign in.

State Savings Online is unavailable​

We are working to resume service as quickly as possible. Please try again later. We apologise for any inconvenience.​

I wonder are they struggling under the volume of people trying to purchase the new offerings!
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Second time in a couple of weeks that it's been offline.
 
When cashing in my current batch of four year National Solidarity Bonds and recent five year Certificates I was emailed yesterday and they requested me to send them photo ID. Which I did within minutes of receiving the email. I then was contacted by phone to confirm my date of birth and address to establish that I was who I said I was. This afternoon I received another phone call asking the same question. I told the agent in the call centre that I had already been contacted etc. He apologized and rang off. They are not joining whatever few dots they have in State Savings!
 
cbreeze said:
When cashing in my current batch of four year National Solidarity Bonds and recent five year Certificates I was emailed yesterday and they requested me to send them photo ID. Which I did within minutes of receiving the email. I then was contacted by phone to confirm my date of birth and address to establish that I was who I said I was. This afternoon I received another phone call asking the same question. I told the agent in the call centre that I had already been contacted etc. He apologized and rang off. They are not joining whatever few dots they have in State Savings!
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Do you have an online account and SSCN?

Ireland State Savings - State Savings Customer Number | SSCN | State Savings

The State Savings Customer Number (SSCN) is your unique Customer Number that identifies you with State Savings and enables you to transact with us easily.
www.statesavings.ie www.statesavings.ie
 
cbreeze said:
When cashing in my current batch of four year National Solidarity Bonds and recent five year Certificates I was emailed yesterday and they requested me to send them photo ID. Which I did within minutes of receiving the email. I then was contacted by phone to confirm my date of birth and address to establish that I was who I said I was. This afternoon I received another phone call asking the same question. I told the agent in the call centre that I had already been contacted etc. He apologized and rang off. They are not joining whatever few dots they have in State Savings!
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I had a similar experience when cashing in six bonds which I documented previously in this thread. They appear to treat each bond as a totally separate piece of work, and validate your id for each separately. I flatly refused to send photo id by email because of the risks involved and they backed off completely on that requirement.
 
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