Central Bank data<\/a> is clear that we are taking out less and less cash.<\/p>\nFour years ago, more than one in six card transactions was a cash withdrawal. Now it\u2019s more like one in nine. On average, we are taking cash out at ATMs or through cash-back in the shop just 15 times a year.<\/p>\n
Some people won\u2019t even be able to remember the last time they took out cash \u2013 but there are many who do, or who will feel it is important to have the option.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are someone who withdraws a lot of cash, or maybe gets paid in cash, an online bank account like Monzo or Revolut or N26 isn\u2019t going to be for you,\u201d Cassidy says.<\/p>\n
With Monzo, for example, you can withdraw up to \u20ac300 every 30 days, but after that you will pay a 2.5% fee per withdrawal, or \u20ac1 at a minimum. A charge of \u20ac20 to take out \u20ac800 if, say, your landlord asks to be paid in cash is quite a lot.<\/p>\n
With Revolut, the cap is \u20ac200 or five withdrawals per month, after which you are charged a \u20ac1 fee or 2% of the amount withdrawn \u2013 whichever is greater. You can\u2019t put cash into these accounts either.<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s getting a bank card in the first place \u2013 not a given with neo-banks. N26 charges \u20ac10 to issue a physical MasterCard debit card.<\/p>\n
Cassidy notes that N26 offers cash deposits via corner shops in Germany, and believes this would be really popular if it was brought in here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"daragh\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793150770_508_.webp\")
<\/p>\n
Traditional banks\u2019 services<\/p>\n
So if you\u2019re in the \u2018cash is king\u2019 camp, the traditional banks may still be for you. However, it is debatable whether the unlimited ATM cash withdrawals offered by the traditional retail banks are really \u201cfree\u201d given their monthly charges.<\/p>\n
In terms of what else customers are getting in return for those monthly charges, the most tangible is probably access to a physical branch \u2013 but when was the last time most of us visited one? Even if you do, the staff may put you on a phone to their help centre rather than resolving your issue in-person.<\/p>\n
Cassidy believes that given many people will not have walked into a bank branch in 10 years, the benefit of having access to a physical branch network is likely to be overstated.<\/p>\n
However, what he argues we shouldn\u2019t underestimate is the value of still being able to call AIB or PTSB or Bank of Ireland if something goes wrong and speak relatively quickly to a human on the other end of the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love to complain about the banks, we love to give out, but my experience is that they do have reasonably good customer service,\u201d Cassidy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRevolut is a different thing. It\u2019s tough to talk to someone. You\u2019re dealing with AI chatbots and when something goes wrong and it\u2019s to do with your money, people panic and they don\u2019t want to be talking to an online person or a chatbot.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a way, the neo-banks offer a version of the traditional banks monthly fee by offering fancier current accounts for a fee, which give access to better customer service.<\/p>\n
Bunq offers a 24\/7 emergency customer phone line that will get you through a \u201cBunq employee\u201d (yes, a real human) for users of its \u20ac3.99, \u20ac9.99 and \u20ac18.99-per-month upgraded accounts. The phone-a-human service is not available for the great unwashed using Bunq\u2019s free current account.<\/p>\n
If you pay \u20ac9.99 per month for Revolut\u2019s \u201cpremium account\u201d you can skip the customer support queue. That\u2019s the second tier up in terms of its upgraded accounts \u2013 it also offers \u20ac3.99, \u20ac17.99 and \u20ac55 per month plans.<\/p>\n
(For \u20ac55, in case you were wondering, the add-on benefits include airport lounge access and subscriptions to Tinder \u2018Gold\u2019, the meditation app Headspace, Chess.com,\u00a0the premium version of language learning app Duolingo and the Financial Times.)<\/p>\n
Apps<\/p>\n
So more limited customer service is potentially one of the downsides of the neo-banks. What are the advantages?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest advantage is the user experience,\u201d says Meany.<\/p>\n
He has been using Revolut for his main day-to-day banking for a couple of years and also has an account with Monzo, although their later entry to the Irish market means that like many people he is probably already too embedded with Revolut to switch.<\/p>\n
He has downgraded his Bank of Ireland account\u2019s role to that of the joint account for paying bills and so on.<\/p>\n
Meany firmly believes that a good user experience is \u201cnot just a nice-to-have\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf your banking app is nice to use, you\u2019re more likely to log in, and you\u2019re more likely to monitor your financial health.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis morning I had to log into my Bank of Ireland account and I actually felt it in my gut: it\u2019s just such a pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
If we\u2019re managing our money better we can finish each week with a bit more in our pocket, Meany reckons. The neo-banks can help us do this.<\/p>\n
He notes that easy log-in with biometrics is an \u201cout-of-the-box, default\u201d setting with neo-banks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe apps are absolutely brilliant,\u201d agrees Cassidy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe level of insight that you get, the level of information. You can obviously transfer money easily to other people, although now the [traditional] banks have launched Zippay, which works absolutely fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monzo\u2019s app in particular is very focused on helping people keep track of their spending, for instance by labelling and tagging purchases for different purposes (#house, #car and so on, or whatever labels you choose yourself).<\/p>\n
A few other considerations in favour of the neo-banks are worth weighing up too.<\/p>\n
Cassidy notes that the foreign exchange fees for neo-banks tend to be lower. N26, for example, offers free ATM withdrawals abroad (although N26 only offers two free monthly ATM withdrawals).<\/p>\n
Some people might be keen to ensure they are doing their main banking on an account with an Irish international bank account number of Iban. Revolut, Monzo and Bunq all offer these, but N26 doesn\u2019t (it is based in Germany and offers German Ibans).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth noting that although they are not traditional banks these four are actually regulated banks, and that means deposits are protected up to \u20ac100,000 if the institution goes bust (as with the AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB).<\/p>\n
Meany notes that, as ever when something online is free, it probably means you\u2019re the product. There\u2019s an obvious benefit for the neo-banks in encouraging users to spend more time on their excellent apps \u2013 the apps are partially a storefront, and they hope that people will sign up to the other products offered, such as investing and trading accounts, or insurance plans.<\/p>\n
Future outages<\/p>\n
Bank outages like last week\u2019s will surely happen again.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, everybody\u2019s focused on the modern banks having issues and correctly so \u2013 this shouldn\u2019t happen. But the traditional banks are just as likely to have issues. None of them are perfect,\u201d Meany says.<\/p>\n
He says he always advises people to have multiple payment options \u2013 including a bit of cash, just in case.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlways have a backup and no matter what happens, be prepared that your bank could go down in the morning. I know it sounds very doomsday prepper \u2013 I\u2019m not telling people to stash gold at home \u2013 but it is worth considering, and to have backup plans if one payment feature or payment method doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n
So whatever option you go for day-to-day banking, it may make sense not to have all your eggs in one basket.<\/p>\n
Even the most committed online banker may be considering a trip to the ATM to get some spare cash after last week\u2019s outage \u2013 although given the prevalence of contactless payment now, some of us may struggle to remember our pin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAPPING YOUR PHONE to pay, and then not hearing the reassuring electronic ping that indicates the payment has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":667354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7863,2605,72,118574,4673,61,60,174,8581],"class_list":["post-667353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-bank-of-ireland","tag-banking","tag-business","tag-consumer-issues","tag-fintech","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-personal-finance","tag-revolut"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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