Colleagues,
We're opening a vanilla account in Ireland as we are seeing local revenue and expenses, and want to start handling it directly. This isn't a Dutch Sandwich or anything complex like that.
So...does anyone have recommendations or cautions about local Irish banks that are easy to work with? Good web presence, good data interconnect, ease and price of wires, cost of account maintenance?
Keith:
From your comments I assume that you are not a retailer. Also you do not indicate how you will be doing deposit taking and payments. That having been said, I do not believe that you need an Irish bank, just a bnk that can run business in Ireland. I have been doing business in Ireland for 20 years and have never used an Irish specific bank.
What is needed is a EURO functional bnk account.
Any of the major banks can do the job; Citi, JPMC, BOA, PNC, RBS, BNP, SocGen, HSBC, etc. Plus many other banks in the US.
Your experience will be based on 4 factors: 1) existing relationship; 2) challenge of your requirements; 3) size of your business (bigger is better); and 4) luck of the draw.
Ask your bank....................
David L. O'Brien, CTP
A lot of Irish banks are under stress due to the country's economic status as one of the "PIIGS", so consider carefully if your funds are going to be at
David & David; Thanks!
While it is true that the Irish banking system experienced a high degree of stress during the global financial crises, the Irish government took extraordinary measures during this period to stabilize the situation by injecting significant levels of new capital to the point that the banks are now very well capitalized. Although Ireland did receive some capital relief from the IMF to support its finances, the government also took immediate corrective measures to ‘fix’ Ireland's ballooning deficits wherein many of the other European countries are now looking to Ireland as a model for fiscal discipline and improvement. Both the banks and the Irish government successfully raised new funds in the capital markets during 2012 at very competitive rates relative to its European partners. The economic backdrop does remain challenging with the EU experiencing recessionary pressures over the past year. However, notwithstanding several years of severe budget cuts, the Irish economy continues to grow and its banking system continues to gain strength as evident from its recent successful bond issues. Ireland's Department of Finance is projecting 2013 GDP growth at 1.5%. I would be very happy to provide you with a copy of Allied Irish Bank’s Irish economic report to assist in your decision making process.
With respect to Irish banking capabilities, our clients at Allied Irish Bank indicate that while non-Irish banks may be able to set up a Euro account, there is a significant benefit to having access to a full service bank in Ireland. Our internet banking platform can easily be accessed globally yet key employees and staff always have the option of using our extensive branch network.
Here are some options. ING bank may be one to talk with from a Eurocentric perspective. Bank of Ireland and BNP Paribas are also good.
Keith - we have found Ulster Bank and Allied Irish Bank to be good to work with for our clients, both offering good online capabilities with appropriate security and controls in place.
