Over the last few years there have been huge advancements in online banking in Ireland and there will definitely be more to come as banks adapt to the changing needs of Irish consumers.
It is interesting to study the Irish market and see that some banks have clearly adopted online banking more than others with some players’ miles ahead of others.

AIB has introduced several new features to its online banking such as its personal finance platform my money manager, emortgage portal and online personal loan facility.

The AIB my money manager is a very useful personal finance tool that allows users to create budgets and track spending in your AIB accounts against the budgets you have set while also categorising your spending into entertainment, rent, food etc.

AIB also has introduced an emortgage portal that allows users to get sanctioned in principle online for their mortgage before meeting with an adviser.

Another feature AIB has introduced is an online personal loan facility that allows AIB account holders to get online approval and drawdown of personal loans in less than 3 hours for amounts between €1,000 – €30,000. Once approved the money is transferred immediately into your account without any need to visit a branch or talk to an adviser.

Permanent TSB has also introduced an online personal loan facility that allows account holders to get online approval and drawdown within minutes of amounts ranging from €1,500 – €15,000 once you are a Permanent TSB current account holder and you have your salary paid into that account. Once approved for the personal loan you can transfer into your account at any time over the next 90 days.

Permanent TSB have introduced a cashback explore current account where you can get cashback for using this account – however this is capped at a maximum of €5 a month which isn’t much considering monthly bank charges are €4.

Ulster Bank have introduced a quick quote online system that allows consumers to get a quote for a personal loan online for amounts from €2,500 to €40,000 in minutes however to draw down the loan the customer will have to meet with an adviser.

KBC also have a facility to start a loan application for personal loan amounts greater than €5,000 however to draw down you will also have to talk to an adviser.

As you can see from the above some banks are adapting to online banking more than others though the Irish market is definitely lagging the more advanced US, UK and Australian markets.