Where are the Big International Banks?

S

Starbuck

Registered User
Messages
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I'm living outside Ireland and currently bank abroad with HSBC. It would really make my life a lot easier if they had retail banking in Ireland - but they don't. And none of the other big international banks seem to do business there either. No Standard Chartered. No Citibank. No DBS.
No nothing!
I'd just love to know why that is?
It can't be a population issue, because I believe some of the above Internationals have branches north of the border.
Any explanations?
 
The cost of setting up a retail presence is huge. KBC and RBS / Ulster are the only 'international banks' with a full service retail offering.
 
Where are the Big International Banks ?
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Most likely, staying in big international locations....

Having seen Danske Bank, Bank of Scotland and Rabobank (formerly ACC Bank) all close shop and exit the market, I'd suspect it could be decades before we see any new Big Banks enter the Irish market, thats if they ever do.

Dermot's comment above, while somewhat "tongue-in-cheek" has probably hit on one of the key issues, just how difficult it seems to be for a Bank to enforce it's security when the Borrower fails to repay their loans.
 
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I can certainly understand their absence right now. But they were never there to begin with!
Even when the boom was at its boomiest - no sign of them!
Banks exist to make money. There was loads of money to be made - and they were here with Private and Business Banking.
So why no retail presence?
 
To have a retail presence, you have to open up branches. During the boom years, the cost of taking out leases or buying units was massive.

Ireland is such a small country with well established banks here already. It simply doesn't make economic sense for them to put tens of millions into setting up a retail presence when the return is going to be tiny.

KBC are opening retail branches at the moment, so that will be PTSB, AIB, BoI, Ulster Bank and KBC. Do we need more than 5?

Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)
 
Far too expensive to run branches, the cost/income ratio in branches was huge, we were always being told it had to be got down as look how much cheaper they could do it in UK!
 
So what if there is no HSBC, you have BofI, AIB, Ulster, KBC etc. What is the issue?
 
Starbuck said:
It can't be a population issue, because I believe some of the above Internationals have branches north of the border.
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From a banking perspective, the North is a small slice of a wider market of 65 million people.

ROI has 4.5 million people, different laws and banking regulations, a different currency, and a bunch of incumbents who benefit from government and ECB support and finance.
 
RBS moved into the Irish banking market when they took over Ulster Bank- result, lost billions
Danske moved into the Irish banking market when they took over NIB- result, lost billions
Bank of Scotland arrived promising to change the face of Irish banking- result, lost billions

No foreign bank is ever going to set up a end to end retail banking model in Ireland, it would cost too much, the return would not be high enough (if any) and shareholders would be wary given history

It's possible some bank may try and buy the Govt shares in one of the banks to establish a presence but I wouldn't hold my breath on it

Note plenty of foreign banks exist here who have cherrypicked part of the market, Rabo spring to mind in that respect.

I'm presuming the OP lives outside of the Eurozone, the likes of SEPA does make it easier to set up direct debits in Ireland with a foreign bank in the Eurozone
 
Yes, I live outside the Eurozone.
The Trustees of my Pension Scheme will only lodge pension payments to Irish Banks. BOI/AIB etc.
I prefer not to give these banks any of my business. Just don't like them and will never again trust them. I think the chances of a future 'Bail-In' are always a worry with Irish Banks.
Furthermore, if there's a 'technical requirement' for me to 'come in and sign a piece of paper' - I would have to fly thousands of miles to do so. Its just a pain in the axx to deal with them.

I'd be so much happier if there was a proper International Bank there which would receive my payments and allow me to access my funds/do necessary paperwork in my new home country.

There's no Rabobank/RBS/KBC out here either.
 
You don't have to let your money sit in your Irish bank account, it's perfectly feasible these days to move it via Internet Banking. However, do you have an Irish Bank account?, if not, you will need to sign bits of papers to open one. Depending on the bank in question, they may allow you to do that without travelling to Ireland. Rabobank for example allow Irish savers to open an online account with forms signed and witnessed by an approved "type" of person (eg a Garda).

Will your pension providers allow you to pay money into An Post or into a credit union?
 
Starbuck said:
The Trustees of my Pension Scheme will only lodge pension payments to Irish Banks. BOI/AIB etc.
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Why won't they lodge it to HSBC? They have a branch in Dublin. It sounds as if it's your pension scheme being awkward more than anything else.


Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)
 
Daddyman, YES, I MUST have an Irish Bank Account. I'm forced to, or I don't get paid.
Yes, I can use Internet Banking to transfer funds - and the Banksters gleefully charge me for holding the Account, and for the Transfers I make abroad.
My current Irish bank uses this daft and dodgy 'Card Reader' as a security device for online banking. Two months ago mine became so dodgy it wouldn't read the card anymore. This meant I was locked out of my account (for online banking purposes - which is all I have). I could not access my money.
I struggled with the device for hours and finally found it would 'read the card' if laid on a flat surface and all inputs were made with surgical delicacy.
When I got into my account I found I could order a new Card Reader online. I did so - it took 4 weeks to arrive. It is just as twitchy as the old one!
Now if I was in Ireland I'd just pop round to the local branch and sort this all out. But that's out of the question for me, as I've explained. The post out here is useless. Stuff goes missing often, and always takes 3 - 4 weeks for delivery.
 
SBarrett said:
Why won't they lodge it to HSBC? They have a branch in Dublin. It sounds as if it's your pension scheme being awkward more than anything else.


Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)
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The HSBC in Dublin is a Corporate Office only. They don't do Retail Banking.
 
Starbuck said:
The HSBC in Dublin is a Corporate Office only. They don't do Retail Banking.
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Gotcha. A client of mine has his company account with them. But then, they are a multi-national company...

Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)
 
Depending on the amount involved and frequency of transactions, you might get a deposit account from the likes of Barclays, HSBC or BNP in Dublin. While it would not offer all the functionality of a current account, it may satisfy the requirement.
 
I've emailed HSBC Corporate Office in Dublin McEarl.
Let's see what the response is.
I don't hold out much hope.
 

I live abroad and have a card reader from an Irish bank and never have had any trouble with it. I wasn't in my Irish bank for a few years now. Everything is done online or via email.
 
Wait until the day your card reader fails and you need access to your money immediately.
 
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