Opening a Savings Account in Ireland

Heidi079

My husband is Irish and I'm South Africa but we both currently live in the UK. Due to Brexit and my visa uncertainties we are hoping to open a Savings Account in Ireland In Euro ASAP. The money will eventually go towards a house in Europe.



Can anyone advise me on how we can open a bank account, whether this can be done online, and which bank is best for savings accounts? (No, hubby does not have an existing account there anymore)

londoninvestor

I don't know about competitors, but on another thread on the Budgeting & Bank Accounts board, KBC was mentioned as an Irish bank that allows accounts to be opened online.

The savings account says its open to "ROI Residents only, or Irish Citizens residing in certain jurisdictions. Please contact us for further information if you are an Irish citizen not resident within the Republic of Ireland."

I'd be surprised if the UK wasn't one of the "certain jurisdictions", so your husband could probably open one.

As I say, I haven't compared against competitors, so do shop around for other possibilities.

Heidi079

Thank you. We were going to ask my husband's brother to open an account but this way we can perhaps do it ourselves.

Rich2808

Why don't you just open a euro account here in the UK if you are resident here - you can always transfer the funds to Ireland later if and when you move there. Plenty of UK banks offer euro accounts for their customers.

In my experience Irish banks are reluctant to open accounts for non residents unless you have an Irish income (e.g. an Irish pension or job) and pay in regular sums.

londoninvestor

Rich2808 wrote: »

Why don't you just open a euro account here in the UK if you are resident here - you can always transfer the funds to Ireland later if and when you move there. Plenty of UK banks offer euro accounts for their customers.

They tend not to be great on interest and charges though. The ones I've seen don't pay interest and are fairly expensive to operate (e.g. HSBC charges EUR 6 to make a SEPA payment).

If being an Irish citizen lets the OP's husband open a KBC account, then they probably end up a few euros better off.

Rich2808

londoninvestor wrote: »

They tend not to be great on interest and charges though. The ones I've seen don't pay interest and are fairly expensive to operate (e.g. HSBC charges EUR 6 to make a SEPA payment).

If being an Irish citizen lets the OP's husband open a KBC account, then they probably end up a few euros better off.

The citizenship option seems very odd - I can see how they might find it useful for Irish born expats who have temporarily moved abroad but applying the policy for anyone with an Irish grandparent etc? Also given the common travel area they nominally should apply the same eligibility to UK citizens too.

If the OP has any luck with KBC let us know - although the rates are still dreadful. Ireland apparently has the lowest savings rates and highest mortgage rates in the EU. Irish banks still robbing the Irish people 10 years on!

squawkbox

A quick note about the KBC accounts. Most of them come with fees.


However, their basic account doesn't. I have this as a UK resident. However, they have a condition that states if you deposit more than the equivalent of minimum wage (I can't remember if it is over the course of a year or a shorter time period), they'll move you on to a bank account with fees.


Therefore, if you are looking to save up a deposit for a house in Europe, you may be likely to breach this condition.