Opening joint savings and current account

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Pocket

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My fiance and I want to open a joint current account for bills, shopping, rent etc. but we would like keep our own accounts too (for independence rather then financial reasons). I have a graduate account with BOI and my partner has an account with AIB. I'm not sure which one to go for (if either) and if we do, should we just change all our banking to one bank?

In addition we are saving for our wedding which is little over a year (no mean feat ;)). We have savings put aside for a deposit for a house at some future date (probably a couple of years down the road) but we would hope to save for the wedding per month. Some of the wedding stuff like deposits we will pay up front but we would like to put aside at least 1000 a month towards the wedding and honeymoon. Is there any point opening opening a savings account specifically for this?

I'm a bit clueless when it comes to banking so I would appreciate any advice. Thanks!:)
 
At first glance, it would appear that you would benefit from saving for the wedding in one of the regular savings accounts offered by the banks at present. See the Best Buys section here on Askaboutmoney for details.
 
Pocket said:
I'm not sure which one to go for (if either) and if we do, should we just change all our banking to one bank?
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That's a very subjective decision.
Why do you bank with BOI? Why does your fiance bank with AIB? Do either of you want to change banks?

If you are opening a joint account (again, very subjective on where you should/might open this) the chances of there multiple transfers between your accounts is probably relatively small. In the modern age of internet banking etc. here is no reason why you would "need" to switch all accounts to the one bank, although it might be easier in the long run if you did.

Nobody can make this decision for you. There are benefits and (potential) negatives to either route.



The advice re the regular monthly saver accounts by LDF is very sound and something you should look into fully.

If you have a large amount on deposit in saving for the deposit, do ensure you're receiving a good rate for the savings (and you're happy with the level of risk associated with the savings).
 
Thanks guys for the advice.

LDFerguson I had a read through the best buys section and I will definitely look into the regular savings account.

Satana, the only reason we are with AIB and BOI is because we opened accounts with them when we college students. We dont hold any particular loyalties to them. I just thought that it might be a common issue, where 1 couple end up with 3 current accounts and there might be an advantage to going with one bank. Or a bank that a bank might have a package aimed towards young couples in the same situation as us. I did warn you that I was clueless when it comes to banking! ;) BTW, what would you consider a good rate for a lump sum of savings (its not that big, ~ 35,000)?
 
Pocket said:
I just thought that it might be a common issue, where 1 couple end up with 3 current accounts and there might be an advantage to going with one bank.
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Potentially, there are benefits. If you do transfers within the same bank, they should go through faster. It also means that you can view all your accounts online with a single set of login details. If you need to call into the branch(s) (e.g. to deal with amounts above the online/phone banking limits) it would/might be an advantage to only have to visit a single branch.

How much these "benefits" outweigh any negatives (e.g. banking costs [AIB can charge for certain transactions if specific criteria are not met... or if you can't get them to waive the fees at the outset ;)], a new banking system to deal with [you might be very happy with the BOI setup you currently have], distance from the branch etc. etc.) is very subjective.

Personally, I bank with AIB and am happy with the level of service/facilities I receive. I find the online banking one of the better systems on offer and find the staff in my "local" (it was when I opened the account but now the opposite end of the country) bank extremely helpful and efficient. In saying that, I'm sure you'll find countless posters who will slate the service they've recieved from AIB.

(No connection with the bank other than as a customer)

what would you consider a good rate for a lump sum of savings (its not that big, ~ 35,000)?
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Again, check out the best buys for a list of the offers available which suit your needs.

You should be able to get ~5% from Northern Rock and a number of the other offers available (although do look into the use of the regular saver accounts to maximise the returns available.... e.g. if you don't mind the work, you could feed the 35k into a number of the monthly saver accounts to increase the return).
 
You and fiance could put 15k each into First Active e savings account (max 15k each) at 5.22% and feed the rest into the regular saver account and continue to save into the regular saver account for the wedding.

FWIW My dh and I have always had separate accounts with one joint account for all the bills etc....works well for us (different spending habits :rolleyes:) My a/c and out jt account are in one bank and dh's account is in another....its been this way for 15+ years and no prob yet...cept when I run out of €€€;)
 
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