The best ptsb rates are not available online

Opened mine last month and very straight forward. Advisor was friendly & efficient.

Wonder is there any restrictions on opening a second 3 year 3% account early next year?
 
An Cigire said:
Opened mine last month and very straight forward. Advisor was friendly & efficient.

Wonder is there any restrictions on opening a second 3 year 3% account early next year?
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Opened one a week ago. I was told there wasn't any restriction.
 
I asked about this a got a vague explanation. For the longer term products, they consider it appropriate to conduct a financial review to ensure that the customer has no immediate need for the money, has an emergency fund, has sufficient income. Which makes a certain amount of sense. However they could cover most of that off with a few checkboxes online. I suspect that it's their chargeable break clause that is forcing them to meet people face to face. The fact that you can get out of the term, but have to pay to do so, could come back to haunt them if they hadn't made some effort to advise you up front. And of course there is also the fact that they can use the opportunity to cross sell, upsell and all that malarky.
 
However, when I opened one of these accounts, I actually had to ask how I could get my money before the end of the term and the answer was to give me the brochure with the form to fill out and no explanation on the cost.
 
I suspect that they are just covering themselves by conducting a meeting. Undisclosed charges are a complete NoNo in financial services, there are few worse sins. If it was a straight case of "You CANNOT get your money back until the end of fixed term" it would be much more straightforward. Given that they have the option for an early exit and do not document either the charge or the charge structure, someone who does need to exit early and who considers the break charge unreasonable could raise a complaint on the grounds of non-disclosure. I'm guessing that covering their backsides on this is the most likely reason for insisting on a face to face meeting plus obtaining signatures on the copies of the "statement of suitability" when it comes to the longer terms. As well of course as the opportunity to cross sell and upsell.
 
Freelance said:
As well of course as the opportunity to cross sell and upsell.
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That seems the most plausible explanation. Last time I was in a PTSB branch even the receptionist tried to flog one of their investment products.
 
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Is the 3 year 3% account still only available to open in branch? Do you have to make an appointment? It’s for my daughter. I have not been in a bank for years! Thanks.
 
Mousehelp said:
Is the 3 year 3% account still only available to open in branch? Do you have to make an appointment? It’s for my daughter. I have not been in a bank for years! Thanks.
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Not sure about that one.. but I was in branch before Christmas. I asked about opening account online, and the staff found out for me that 'only one online savings account, can be set up, so the other has to be in branch. I signed up to PTSB, after KBC and Ulster closed. I have a Circle K card with them, but Circle K have said they will let me keep the card and move the associated bank. Ptsb announced €8 monthly fee from April so I'm going to move. If your daughter is over 18, maybe she could set up a trade republic account. Really good habit to see the savings and interest rate etc
 
Mousehelp said:
Is the 3 year 3% account still only available to open in branch? Do you have to make an appointment? It’s for my daughter. I have not been in a bank for years! Thanks.
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We had to make an appointment and attend a PTSB branch to open the 3 year 3% account recently. Fairly quickly done - we had to bring our IDs and PPS numbers.
 
Mousehelp said:
Is the 3 year 3% account still only available to open in branch? Do you have to make an appointment? It’s for my daughter. I have not been in a bank for years! Thanks.
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According to the links on this page
  • Online is 6 month and 1 year only
  • In Branch is 6 month, 1 year, 18 month, 3 year and 5 year
So it looks like you are visiting a branch - you must make an appointment in advance. Make sure that you take the required documentation with you. What you need depends on whether or not your daughter is an existing customer.
 
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