ptsb new free account?

Does anyone know anything about this account & is it really free or is there a 'catch'?

Heard rumours about it. Has it been officiallylaunched? I don't see it listed EzCode Parsing [broken link removed]. Keep an eye on [broken link removed] for updates and information about the charging structures applicable to other accounts.

The catch is that their mortgage rates aren't very competitive, so if you move your mortgage business to PTSB, your savings on current account charges will be dwarfed by your losses on mortgage interest.

This account is not linked to any other product (i.e. mortgages). You only pay interest on overdrafts, unauthorised overdrafts, cirrus transactions etc. No catches as far as I know. Same deals as are available in the UK.

For what it's worth I bank with ptsb from years back and avoid transaction charges (I have paid some DD setup charges though) by maintaining the required credit balance and having my salary transferred in. Note that [broken link removed] offers banking free of all charges (other than Government stamp duties) as far as I know.

It's there..

The new free account is now online on


[broken link removed]

And here the fun, as an existing user one has to go to his/her branch and in a "simple" and "easy" process one can swap in about "10 minutes" the account over to the new charge scheme.

Now why are they not offering to do this automatically?

moving

am thinking of changing from BOI to PTSB free banking, due to the excessive quarterly charges BOI apply. However what impact would the move have to the stamp duty applied to each card I have? Does it mean I would be I would pay twice in the one year for my laser card? Am thinking of keeping Visa a/c with BOI to avoid paying twice for this.

Re: moving

am thinking of changing from BOI to PTSB free banking, due to the excessive quarterly charges BOI apply. However what impact would the move have to the stamp duty applied to each card I have? Does it mean I would be I would pay twice in the one year for my laser card? Am thinking of keeping Visa a/c with BOI to avoid paying twice for this.

I am in the same position.

As far as I know, the procedures announced in the budget to avoid double payment of stamp duty have not been agreed yet. Or if they have, I missed it.

I think waiting for another month would be prudent.

Cards and stamp duty

From Finance Bill:

16. Stamp Duty Exemption for Switching of Financial Cards

The Bill provides for a stamp duty exemption from the double charge arising from the switching of financial cards such as credit cards, charge cards, ATM cards and Laser cards. Consultations by the Department of Finance and Revenue have taken place with relevant
bodies about the timing and scope of the legislative provision. The changes provide that a person will only be liable for one stamp duty charge in a particular year where they have switched either the financial product or provider during that year. This change will come into
effect from 2 April 2005 in relation to credit cards and charge cards and from 1 January 2006 for all ATM, debit (Laser) and combined cards.

Up until 1 January 2006, if you switch bank account, you'll have to pay 2 lots of stamp duty for your ATM/credit cards, though ask your new bank if they'll pay this for you.

What a mess

So following the advise of Open24 advisor's (Phone banking) I went to my branch, which told me the new free account is only for new customer and that if I want it I need to open a new account (with all documentation).

Me protesting, that I can not believe that because that would just plain be stupid she went away. After consulting again with her supervisor and looking at my account (she said, I need to see if you get your salary to us) she said that my account is already free because I get salary to it.

Me advising that that salary means discount but not totally free as transaction charges and other stuff still apply.

She again consulting with her supervisor telling me than, Open24 should have dealt with this. I advised her that they told me that I need to sign an 'upgrade' form. She pointed out such form does not exist.

I said, fine what do I have to do to get a free banking account? Close my account - got to a different bank - wait 3 month and than come back? She did not like that and went away again.

Finally the supervisor showed up and told me that he had done the changes and my account was now free but stayed the same as before. Now I asked him to clarify that because if it stayed the same than I would still be charged transactions etc. . He cleared that up and informed me, that all account details stay the same but I would not see any charges anymore.

I asked him to put that in writing (because I see the bill already coming) and he said, that he can not do that but I would see it next quarter that there are no charges.

Well I don't know, so I called open24 and I was told that my account is still loyalty current account which means discount on charges but not free.

So I give them until tomorrow morning and if that is not working than I just might take a day off and walk to another bank.

Re: What a mess

I've said it before, my main gripe with banks is not the charges, but the fact that the people behind the counter rarely seem to understand the rules.

I've banked with the same bank for years and I've done a particular transaction every month for the last 3 years. From time to time I get a new girl behind the counter who tells me that I can't do it. I explain that I do it every month and hey presto, It turns out I can.

My worry with switching to PTSB would be that when they've reached their level of new customers that they like (with a few extra to allow for people leaving) they'll introduce fees again, and they'll put up with the few people who bother to leave them.

Right now I'd just settle for a Bank who's counter staff actually know their stuff. From the sounds of your experiece with PTSB they aren't for me.

-Rd

free banking online services???

Am currently a BOI customer...


BOI online service is quite good...you can see all transactions of your credit card...look at previous card statements...customise a statement...transfer money to your credit card. customise current account etc etc...

What's the online service like for PTSB?

Re: online banking

Open24 allows you to:

* Balance inquiries (including Visa card)
But Visa is only updated once a day not real time

* Online statements to keep your finances in order
can be customized as you wish

* Order paper statements
or avail of the screen print option

* Transfer funds to other bank accounts quickly and efficiently
BUT only other PTSB accounts linked to your open24 id, don't think other peoples or even other banks

* Search for cheques paid

* Pay utility bills, Visa Card bills and so on
BUT Visa is not real time, it's 2-3 working days
Also to register bill payments or other peoples accounts you need to call via the phone and they set it up.

Re: online banking

service looks similar except for transferring to other people's accounts...I have transferred to other people's BOI accounts...not sure about the transferring to other banks...although the loss of this service wouldn't stop me from moving...

quarterly charges for boi are approx €11 i think...or you can be charged per transaction instead...30c or so per withdrawal etc...seems very steep...will definitely move when my graduate account runs out.

Re: online banking

What's NIB's online banking like? How does it compare to BOI / AIB?

Does it show the history of credit card statements and the current position? (BOI: Yes, AIB: No)

Does it allow you to set up utility and 3rd party account payments on the site without having to ring up? (BOI: No, AIB: Yes)

Is it updated frequently (more than once daily)? (BOI: Yes (mostly), AIB: Yes (but credit card info can be slow)

Re: online banking

What's NIB's online banking like? How does it compare to BOI / AIB?

Click to expand...

NIB's is excellent, though I haven't used AIB/BOI myself to give a direct comparison.

Does it show the history of credit card statements and the current position? (BOI: Yes, AIB: No)

Click to expand...

Yes - One small limitation is that you can only see 10 cc transactions on screen at a time, so you have to scroll back/forth to see more than that. For some strange reason, this limitation of 10 does not apply when viewing your current account.

Does it allow you to set up utility and 3rd party account payments on the site without having to ring up? (BOI: No, AIB: Yes)

Click to expand...

Yes

Is it updated frequently (more than once daily)? (BOI: Yes (mostly), AIB: Yes (but credit card info can be slow)

Click to expand...

Yes - Seems to be instantaenous updates for ATM transactions.

Re: online banking

Does it show the history of credit card statements and the current position? (BOI: Yes, AIB: No)

Click to expand...

AIB show your current credit card balance on the main page. Confusing, I know (they used to show it on the statement page too.). Also, the delay in credit card transactions showing up is usually due to settlement delays on the merchant end (i.e. the transaction hasn't completed yet so doesn't show up.).

Re: online banking

Does it show the history of credit card statements and the current position? (BOI: Yes, AIB: No)

has the best site for online statements.
[broken link removed] shows you the Account Snapshot, showing:

- the current balance
- last statement balance
- min balance and due date
- all transactions since the statement
- total value of authorised but as yet unposted txns

There is a separate Statements section which then shoes you a HTML version of all of your statements, which is exactly the same as the printed statements.

[broken link removed] has no such statement history - all you have is "recent transactions" and statement summary i.e. amount of last statement, due date etc. There is no equivalence to the paper bill issued.

The statement summary info is also updated about 2 - 3 days after a new statement is posted out. In the interim, you can however calculate the amount of the statement as the minimum balance IS updated (!) - so you can divide by 3 (min percentage payment) and multiple by 100 to get the full balance.

I have pointed this bug to them several times but they show no inclination to fix it.

I can't remember how [broken link removed] supported credit card statements as I got rid of my BOI card when the increased charges came in.