Cross Border Banking NI to ROI

penny_farthing

I am currently working in Republic of Ireland (ROI) and getting paid my salary into an ROI current bank account. However my Northern Ireland (NI) current bank account is still going as I have a loan payment which comes out and a few other UK bills.

I was wondering what is the best/most cost effective way to manage this?

Should I change all DD's into ROI account?

Will there be any charges on my account for paying UK bills with ROI account?

I also have a UK Credit Card I am currently paying off - Will there be charges applied to this because I will be using the ROI account to pay it from here on.

What is the most cost effective way to transfer or obtain £STG for when I am in NI - I recently transferred an amount from one account to the other and I was charged £7 for the pleasure.

Thanks for any help offered

grumbler

penny_farthing wrote: »

I am currently working in Republic of Ireland (ROI) and getting paid my salary into an ROI current bank account. However my Northern Ireland (NI) current bank account is still going as I have a loan payment which comes out and a few other UK bills.

I was wondering what is the best/most cost effective way to manage this?

Should I change all DD's into ROI account?

I think DD is a UK system, not EU.

Will there be any charges on my account for paying UK bills with ROI account?

I think you have to either pay by £ bank transfer from your € account or transfer money to a UK account first.
In both cases you'll lose on currency conversion.
In the former case your ROI bank will charge you for the conversion and for the transfer. In the latter case it depends on how you do this.

I also have a UK Credit Card I am currently paying off - Will there be charges applied to this because I will be using the ROI account to pay it from here on.

A CC bill is no different from any other bill.

What is the most cost effective way to transfer or obtain £STG for when I am in NI - I recently transferred an amount from one account to the other and I was charged £7 for the pleasure.

mycurrencytransfer.com
fxcompared.com

System

Try banks that operate in both parts of Ireland such as Danske and Ulster.

I know that Ulster allow free Sterling ATM withdrawals from RBS Group machines in GB, NI and IOM [Ulster, RBS, NatWest and Isle of Man banks] with ROI accounts.

I don't think that UK companies will be setup for SEPA Direct Debits yet even if the functionality exists.

There is nothing to stop you paying companies directly from the ROI using their IBAN details - the question would be if cost effective.

penny_farthing wrote: »

I am currently working in Republic of Ireland (ROI) and getting paid my salary into an ROI current bank account. However my Northern Ireland (NI) current bank account is still going as I have a loan payment which comes out and a few other UK bills.

I was wondering what is the best/most cost effective way to manage this?

Should I change all DD's into ROI account?

Will there be any charges on my account for paying UK bills with ROI account?

I also have a UK Credit Card I am currently paying off - Will there be charges applied to this because I will be using the ROI account to pay it from here on.

What is the most cost effective way to transfer or obtain £STG for when I am in NI - I recently transferred an amount from one account to the other and I was charged £7 for the pleasure.

Thanks for any help offered

trailingspouse

We had this problem a few years ago - living and working in ROI but with accounts and outgoings in England.

You can't set up standing orders/direct debits between countries. VERY irritating. We used to transfer money once a quarter from our ROI account to our UK account - cheaper than doing it monthly. There may be cheaper ways to do it, but I never found one!!

mgdavid

as others have said, you need to continue paying UK (sterling) bills from the NI account. You need to transfer an amount periodically from ROI (euros) to the NI account; there are lots of currency brokers nowadays who will do this far, far cheaper than the banks. The 2 mentioned in post #2 plus https://www.currencyfair.com whom I have used and am happy to suggest.

Buzby

Of course there are DD's in other administrations, indeed within the Eurozone, all countries within permit same currency transfers with no extra charges.

You will find the currency you set up the original arrangement with cannot be changed and you will find as the Euro to Sterling rate changes your payments rarely are the same from month to month, but if your bank does any FX conversions, the rate you are charged will not be ideal. (It will be cheaper elsewhere).

You don't say who your accounts are with - I ran mine through AIB in the South, and First Trust in the North - effectively the same bank which made verification easy.

AIB do offer accounts that work in dual currencies but the service charges may discourage you. The upside is if one side has a negative balance then it can be topped up from the other at their interbank rates. You have an IRL and UK sort code and account numbers to permit 'normal' transactions.

Lastly, you cannot pay UK (Sterling) bills from a Euro A/c - unless you pay the FX fees to change it to STG.

Toe-Jam

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Try banks that operate in both parts of Ireland such as Danske and Ulster.

I know that Ulster allow free Sterling ATM withdrawals from RBS Group machines in GB, NI and IOM [Ulster, RBS, NatWest and Isle of Man banks] with ROI accounts.

Using an Ulster bank UK account card in an Ulster bank ROI cash machine is not free. Far from it. Rather than using Visa's rate they make up there own which you have to search for on their website as no one ever knows what it is when you ring the branch. Today it's 1.21 while visas is 1.25

System

Thanks for the news.

I was talking about using a ROI/Euro Ulster Bank card in UK machines though.

Toe-Jam wrote: »

Using an Ulster bank UK account card in an Ulster bank ROI cash machine is not free. Far from it. Rather than using Visa's rate they make up there own which you have to search for on their website as no one ever knows what it is when you ring the branch. Today it's 1.21 while visas is 1.25

Toe-Jam

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Thanks for the news.

I was talking about using a ROI/Euro Ulster Bank card in UK machines though.

It's exactly the same for ROI Customers only the conversion is the other way round.


Debit Card - Ulster Bank ATM* Exchange rate

Ulster Bank is committed to providing cardholders with a convenient way to pay when travelling within Northern Ireland.

The Exchange rate tool defines the Ulster Bank Foreign Exchange rate provided to its Republic of Ireland Customers when using a Debit card at all Ulster Bank sterling ATMs.


Rate for Ulster Bank Republic of Ireland customers who use Ulster Bank ATMs in Northern Ireland

The Ulster Bank ATM rate is determined by reference to the wholesale foreign currency markets and is sourced from a number of market intermediaries. The rate is applied circa 08:15hrs each working day, prevailing until the same time the next working day. A small business margin is applied to cater for market fluctuations.

4 points is what they deem to be a small margin.

System

Its a family friend who lives in the ROI and comes back to Scotland occasionally - seemed happy with the rate at RBS cashline machines.

If the rate is as poor as you say, the ombudsman could become involved as their statement implies the fees simply cover costs.

Toe-Jam wrote: »

It's exactly the same for ROI Customers only the conversion is the other way round.


Debit Card - Ulster Bank ATM* Exchange rate

Rate for Ulster Bank Republic of Ireland customers who use Ulster Bank ATMs in Northern Ireland

The Ulster Bank ATM rate is determined by reference to the wholesale foreign currency markets and is sourced from a number of market intermediaries. The rate is applied circa 08:15hrs each working day, prevailing until the same time the next working day. A small business margin is applied to cater for market fluctuations.

4 points is what they deem to be a small margin.

Toe-Jam

Well I doubt the Ombudsman would have anything to say about the rate. . 04 is mathematically a small margin but what bugs me is the wording. It is misleading and suggests they are doing customers a great favor.

When in reality they are charging 3% for customers to use an RBS/Natwest machine . Which is more or less what every other bank charges anyway.