Bank of Ireland Business online: Everything you need to know

The Bank of Ireland is a commercial bank that operates in Ireland and is one of the traditional ‘Big Four’ Irish banks. They offer straightforward business banking options for both businesses and startups. They have a standard business current account, as well as a business startup account that is aimed at new business.

In this article, we’ll examine the various business accounts and options that they offer, as well as their fees. We’ll also compare the fees and services with what you’ll get from Wise, but more on that later.

What Kind of Business Account does the Bank of Ireland offer?

The Bank of Ireland has two major offerings for businesses.

1. Standard Business Current Account: The first is the standard business current account. This is an everyday banking account that sole traders and existing businesses can take advantage of. This type of account gives you a contactless debit card that can be used for regular daily purchases and also for easy cash access. The pricing plan is also quite simple, albeit a bit high, especially when compared with Wise. This account also provides cash handling services as well as online, mobile, and phone banking. This allows you to access and manage your account from your location.

2. Business Startup Account: This account is a specialized one that was designed for startups and new businesses. Applicants for this offer will receive a standard current account and be exempted from transaction and maintenance fees for the first 24 months. The account also comes with dedicated phone support, enterprise programme, and other free tools and guides

What are their fees for a business account with the Bank of Ireland?

If you are considering getting a business account from the Bank of Ireland, you need to know what fees are involved, and you are likely to incur. You should take time to think about how you want to use the account, as well as which of their services would be the most valuable to you. You can then compare the fees that are charged for those services to give you an idea of exactly what you are likely to pay for.

Here’s everything you need to know about the fees for the Bank of Ireland business current account:¹

Fee	Heading
Account maintenance	€15 per quarter
Contactless transactions	€0.01 per transaction
Automated transactions	€0.10 per transaction
ATM (withdrawing and lodging)	€0.25 per transaction
Non-automated or staff-assisted transaction	€0.60 per transaction
Credit transfers	€0.60 per transaction
Cheques/lodged items	€0.60 per transaction

Can you make international payments with the Bank of Ireland?

As a customer of the Bank of Ireland, you can make international transfers and payments via the bank. There are 3 different payment methods that you can use to make international transfers:

1. InterPayplus - a cross border credit transfer service, also known as international payment, it typically takes 1 to 3 working days to get money to the beneficiary’s bank.

(a) In euro

Recipient's location	Fee
With IBAN/BIC, Charges Shared to other EU Member States	€0.50
All other euro payments	1% of value (Min. €17.75 Max. €50)

(b) In foreign currency – i.e where a buy/sell rate applies.

| 0.2% of value | Min. €12.50 Max. €50 Plus a foreign exchange margin |

2. InterPayexpress service - is a cross border credit transfer for same day payments also known as urgent international payment service which is subject to cut-off times outlined on the application form. It is available for payments in EUR, GBP and USD. Bank of Ireland will make the payment on the same day subject to cut off times. However, it is the responsibility of the receiving bank to effect payment for same day value subject to their regulations following receipt of the payment from Bank of Ireland.

(a) In euro

Recipient's location	Fee
With IBAN/BIC, Charges Shared to other EU Member States	Interbank €25.35 Interbranch €19.05
All other euro payments	1% of value (Min. €17.75 Max. €50) Plus €25

(b) In foreign currency – i.e where a buy/sell rate applies.

These payments may currently be made in USD and GBP only	0.2% of value (Min. €12.50 Max. €50) Plus €25, Plus a foreign exchange margin

Foreign Bank Charges

For all credit transfer payments to countries in the EEA, charges can only be shared. This means the payer pays the Bank of Ireland charges and the payee (recipient) pays their own bank charges. When you make a payment to a country that is outside the EU and EEA (a) through Business Online or (b) with the assistance of BOI branch staff, you can choose to pay the payee’s (recipient’s) own bank charges. If you wish to pay the payee’s charges BOI will charge you €7 towards them when you make the payment. The payee’s bank will ask BOI to pay the rest of the payee’s charge if it is more than €7; and BOI will then take the rest of the payee’s bank’s charge from your account.

It can take foreign banks four weeks and sometimes much longer (e.g. up to 3 months) to ask BOI for payment of the rest of the payee’s charge. You cannot pay the payee’s (recipient’s) own bank charges when (a) you make a payment in any way to a country in the EU or EEA; or (b) when you make a payment to a country outside the EU and EEA using Banking 365.

B. BoI 365 online Interpayplus credit transfer service

(a) In euro

Recipient's location	Fee
Transaction to EU Member States with IBAN & BIC	No charge
All other euro payments (e.g. Euro to China)	€12.00 each

(b) In foreign currency – i.e where a buy/sell rate applies.

Payments destined for countries outside EU Member States (e.g. USD to the USA)	€5 each plus a foreign exchange margin
Payments destined for countries within EU Member States (e.g. Sterling to the UK)	No handling charge A foreign exchange margin applies

The delivery timeframe for ‘365’ payments is typically 1 to 3 working days to the payee’s bank. An overall daily limit of €20,000 applies for “365 online” domestic and international payments (including InterPayplus charges). For security purposes, this limit is €10,000 for payments to payees added using a security code sent to your mobile phone.

While these fees might seem small at a glance, it can get quite expensive if you’re making a large transaction. For example, if you need to convert 2,000 EUR to GBP, instead of getting £1806.58 you’ll get £1,770.00 minus the transfer fee.

To save money on international transfers, use Wise Business. Wise offers international currency exchanges at the mid-market rate. That is the rate that you would find on Google or XE and is much better than what most banks or other payment platforms would offer you. For every transfer, Wise will transfer your money for a small fee stated upfront, based on the amount that you want to transfer. You can see the exact exchange rate that is used before you even make the transfer.

Here’s a quick at a glance price comparison for a 2000 EUR transfer to GBP

Fees	Wise	Bank of Ireland
Exchange rate mark-up³	0	€40.58
International Transfer Fee	€8.66	€4
Recipient gets	£1,800.47	£1,729.76

Can you have a foreign currency account?

The Bank of Ireland Global Markets does offer a lot of foreign exchange services. Among them is the option to hold an account in foreign currencies. This is especially helpful for persons and businesses that make a lot of payments in foreign currencies. The Bank of Ireland offers accounts in major currencies such as the Pound Sterling, US Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Australian Dollars, Polish Zloty, and Swiss Francs.

Wise, on the other hand, offers a multi-currency account, which will be more useful if you or your business needs to hold money in multiple currencies. With this account, you can hold money in more than 28 separate currencies, and even get local account details for EUR, GBP, USD and AUD accounts. So, if you are a frequent traveler or you do business online, then a borderless account may just be what you need. It will drastically reduce the amount of expensive foreign account transfers that you need to make. It will save you money on each transfer.

Additional benefits of using Wise Business

It also offers support from the Wise business team. To get started, get a borderless account from Wise today and enjoy cheaper transfer rates, easier transfers, and a solution that is built for you and your business.

You can also take advantage of the following additional benefits:

• Payroll to overseas contractors
• Payments to vendors and suppliers in over 40 currencies
• A unique integration with Xero for multi-currency accounting
• Multi-currency debit card attached to the account

Start saving today with Wise

Sources:

1. Bank of Ireland website - price page
2. Bank of Ireland website- price page - Schedule of international transaction charges
3. Bank of Ireland website- exchange rate calculator