A few weeks ago, UK fintech Monzo officially opened in Ireland, offering its digital banking services to customers here.
It is part of a planned wider European expansion that has seen the company pull out of the US in order to focus its efforts. The bank is already popular in the UK, where it has 15 million customers.
But digital banking is a crowded market. Revolut has enjoyed some success here at the expense of the pillar banks (AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB), while Bunq and N26 have also made some inroads.
Monzo is starting with a simple offering: a free current account and a savings account that will pay a 1.6 per cent interest rate. ATM withdrawals are free up to €300 every 30 days, and you can create different savings pots or set up automatic money divisions when your salary comes in to keep your fun money away from the bill stuff.
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It has one compelling feature though: real people behind customer support, that you can reach by phone if needed. In-app chat is also available, but for those of us who have a pressing issue that needs a human touch, it’s nice to have the option.
Revolut
The fintech that upended the banking sector is one of the most popular in Ireland. Like many tech companies before it, its name has become a verb – “I’ll Revolut you” – and synonymous with instant payments.
Initially pitching itself as a way to avoid foreign exchange charges, accept payments and split bills quickly, Revolut offered customers the ability to hold balances in different currencies.
But it is more than just a way to make payments. Over the years, the company has added everything from trading in cryptocurrencies, stocks and exchange traded funds in an effort to broaden its appeal. Disposable virtual cards for online shopping is another useful feature, along with sub accounts to save for trips out or group gifts.
Then came the banking licence. Originally planning an Irish hub, Revolut decided, instead, to serve its European customers – Ireland included – through a banking licence granted to it by the Lithuanian Central Bank. As of 2022, Revolut became a fully licensed bank in Ireland.
That opened a whole new avenue of business for the company. Not only can you get an Irish international bank account number (Iban), but the company also began offering loans. These days you can open an on-demand savings account that pays 1.5 per cent interest, or get a credit card from the fintech. It offers a rewards system that gives you points for spending on the card that can be swapped for benefits such as travel eSims, airport lounge access, gift cards and charity donations.
The only major service left to offer is mortgages, which Revolut has been piloting here with a closed group of employees. It says it has more than three million Irish customers.
Bunq
Dutch-owned Bunq, which calls itself “the bank of the free”, is a good option if you have savings that you need to keep easy access to.
Launched in Ireland in May 2022, it offers a decent return on deposits that is linked with the European Central Bank rate – if it goes up, so does Bunq’s base deposit rate – and a bonus rate that adds 0.5 per cent if your savings go above the highest balance held in the account in a set six-month period.
Those savings accounts are free; you can get a basic current account for free these days with virtual cards that include a credit card, but to get some of the more useful features you will have to upgrade to the Core plan (€3.99 a month), Pro (€9.99 a month) or Elite (€18.99 a month). The free plan doesn’t include any free ATM withdrawals, or child accounts either.
If you are willing to pay though, you can add a child bank account or create a joint account with another Bunq user, even inviting someone on the free tier. You can also open different sub accounts – up to 25 – each with their own Iban so you can use them to receive payments or pay direct debits. The free plan limits you to three Ibans.
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Bunq also offers the ability to offset your carbon footprint by planting trees. That was once limited to its “green” account, which cost €18 a month. But now the tree planting is included on the Pro and Elite plans, with a vague “offset your CO2 footprint” mention for the free plan.
N26
German bank N26 has had a banking licence since 2016, and arrived in Ireland a year later. That means it has been able to avail of the deposit guarantee scheme, which means your money is as protected as it would be in a traditional bank in Ireland.
One of the key draws of N26 was the ability to open an account quickly and easily, with the whole process completed in a few minutes. That is fairly standard now though, so what else does N26 offer?
There are four personal banking plans – the free Standard plan suitable for day-to-day banking, plus the fee-paying Smart, Go and Metal accounts that cost between €4.90 and €16.90 per month for various additional benefits – and the same for the business-focused plans.
The free plan is fairly limited – two free ATM withdrawals, plus a physical card, one free virtual card, and the option to invest in cryptocurrencies and funds. You can also have a joint account on this plan, and open an account for under 18s, for a €10 delivery fee for the card.
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To get more advanced benefits, you have to upgrade to a fee-paying plan. Travel and lifestyle insurance, for example, comes with Go and Metal accounts. Spaces sub accounts that can be used for saving towards a specific goal are also a fee-paying perk. They also waive the €10 delivery fee for the under-18s card.
Bankinter
Operating as a digital-first bank, Bankinter entered the Irish market through its Avant Money unit.
The bank now offers mortgages, personal loans, credit cards and deposit accounts to customers under the Bankinter Ireland umbrella. You have a choice of a six month or 12 month deposit account, with an interest rate of 2.6 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively. The interest is paid on maturity, and you can access up to a quarter of your funds after eight weeks.
Money Jar
Irish-founded Money Jar offers a digital account for your money that is intended to move countries with you. There are four tiers available – open, lite, plus and active – with the open plan as the free option and the most expensive active plan coming in at €9.99 a month. There are other small fees to take into account too, with the free plan on a pay-per-use basis and the others covering between 12 and 40 transactions per month before fees kick in. Irish customers can access a rewards plan, too.
It isn’t a bank as such, but you can pay bills, set up direct debits, transfer money through Sepa payments and use your card for contactless payments.
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The fintech is covered by an e-money licence. Your money is still protected, with the institutions relying on such licences required to safeguard the money it receives from customers and ringfence it. If something goes wrong, the money will be used to repay customers before anyone else.
