{"id":2086,"date":"2017-04-25T16:00:11","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T16:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ccpc.ie\/consumers\/?page_id=2086"},"modified":"2019-08-07T09:23:32","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T09:23:32","slug":"choosing-your-current-account","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ccpc.inventise.ie\/consumers\/money\/banking\/choosing-your-current-account\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing your current account"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Current accounts are the most common type of bank account and are a convenient and often necessary way to manage your money. A current account allows you to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep your money in a secure place and view your balance and transactions on your bank statements or online.<\/li>\n<li>Receive payments such as your salary, social welfare, pension and incoming transfers.<\/li>\n<li>Pay for things using a debit card, cheques and for transferring money to another account in Ireland or abroad.<\/li>\n<li>Pay bills by direct debit, standing order, recurring payment or in-branch with a payment giro.<\/li>\n<li>Bank remotely using online banking or over the phone.<\/li>\n<li>Get an overdraft facility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How do I choose a current account?<\/h3>\n<p>You can use our <a href=\"https:\/\/ccpc.inventise.ie\/consumers\/financial-comparisons\/current-account-comparison\/\">current account comparisons<\/a> to see who provides current accounts in Ireland and check out at their fees and other details. When choosing a current account think about:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The fees and charges for the services you use most<\/li>\n<li>The location of the provider\u2019s branches and opening hours<\/li>\n<li>The availability of cash services in the branches as not all banks in Ireland offer these<\/li>\n<li>Phone and internet banking services<\/li>\n<li>The cards provided with the account<\/li>\n<li>Interest and fees for an overdraft<\/li>\n<li>Fees and charges for any missed direct debits or standing orders<\/li>\n<li>Digital wallets such as Android pay or Apple pay.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%\" border=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%;text-align: left\">Top Tip<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%\">Choose a current account that charges the least for the services you use the most. For example, if you make lots of ATM withdrawals pick a bank that doesn\u2019t charge for this..<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Fees, charges and penalties<\/h3>\n<p>Some banks offer free or discounted banking if you are a student, graduate, over a certain age or keep a certain amount in your account at all times. However, many people pay fees and charges for the services provided by their bank.<\/p>\n<p>These fees and charges can include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A monthly or quarterly maintenance fee for having the account.<\/li>\n<li>Charges for individual transactions such as an ATM withdrawal, transactions on internet banking, transactions in-branch, payments by debit card etc.<\/li>\n<li>Fees for setting up, amending or cancelling direct debits &amp; standing orders and processing cheques.<\/li>\n<li>Charges for duplicate statements or replacing a lost or stolen debit card<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Most banks will charge you fees if you don\u2019t keep enough money in your account to meet your payments.<\/p>\n<p>These fees can include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>unpaid standing order<\/li>\n<li>unpaid direct debit<\/li>\n<li>cheque returned unpaid<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You may also be charged interest if you go into an unauthorised <a href=\"https:\/\/ccpc.inventise.ie\/consumers\/money\/loans\/overdrafts\/\">overdraft<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>What should I think about when opening a current account?<\/h3>\n<p>When opening your current account you should always read the terms and conditions fully. Ask questions or explanations of anything you don\u2019t understand. It is important to ask about:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The fees and charges and the cost of the services you think you will use most<\/li>\n<li>If you can reduce your charges by keeping a minimum balance in the account or another way<\/li>\n<li>What services are offered<\/li>\n<li>The steps involved if you need to change personal details such as address, phone numbers or email<\/li>\n<li>When you will receive your debit card and pin and how to reorder a replacement card if you ever need to<\/li>\n<li>Ask how you will receive your bank statements, for example online only, and how regularly you will get them<\/li>\n<li>If you plan to use your debit card outside the country, what charges will you pay?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Current accounts are the most common type of bank account and are a convenient and often necessary way to manage your money. A current account allows you to: Keep your money in a secure place and view your balance and &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":0,"parent":135,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[16,8],"class_list":["post-2086","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-banking","tag-money"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Choosing your current account - CCPC Consumers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find out what you should consider when choosing a current account - including fees, charges and what questions you should ask.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Choosing your current account - 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