Bank's current account and credit card rates are among the best available, writes Laura Slattery.

A survey of more than 400 visitors to the Money Show personal finance exhibition suggests that one in five consumers have no idea what interest rates apply to their current and savings account.

The finding won't be particularly good news for National Irish Bank (NIB), which this week launched current account packages with the lowest overdraft and credit card rates in the State and savings accounts with rates among the best available.

Before the introduction of NIB's Easy, Easy Plus and Prestige accounts, the lowest authorised overdraft rate available on standard current accounts was 11.2 per cent APR (annual percentage rate of interest), available from both Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank.

NIB has now reduced authorised overdrafts to 9.82 per cent APR on its free Easy account and to 9.02 per cent APR and 8.48 per cent APR on its Easy Plus and Prestige accounts respectively.

It has also become the first bank to abolish referral fees, which apply when payments fail due to insufficient funds being present in accounts where no agreed overdraft is in place.

NIB has also overtaken Bank of Scotland Ireland as the cheapest credit card provider, charging just 9.1 per cent on the gold card available in conjunction with Easy Plus and 8.6 per cent on the platinum card available to Prestige account customers. But the Easy Plus and Prestige accounts are not free: consumers pay for the privilege of the lower overdraft and credit card rates. Easy Plus costs ¤75 a year, while Prestige has an annual fee of ¤125.

In exchange for these fees, NIB also pays interest on the money held in the current accounts, a practice that has fallen by the wayside in the Republic in recent years.

The only other banks to do so are AIB, which pays limited interest of 0.5 per cent on balances of up to €1,000, and Ulster Bank, which pays 0.25 per cent on balances in its U First current account.

NIB pays 1 per cent to Easy Plus customers and 1.75 per cent to Prestige customers.

The bank also throws in preferential savings rates, commission free foreign exchange and travel benefits, which it claims are worth between €150 and €550 a year. On the Prestige account, this includes free lounge access at certain airports, a benefit that may appeal to frequent fliers.

Wrapping up a current account with various discounts and lifestyle benefits is not a new phenomenon in Irish banking. Ulster Bank's U First account, which costs €108, includes discounts on personal and car loans, lifestyle benefits such as restaurant and ticket discounts, preferential savings rates and a €320 interest-free overdraft facility it calls a "buffer limit".

But its main advantage is for Ulster Bank mortgage customers, as they can avail of a 0.1 per cent discount on its tracker mortgages. A 0.1 per cent saving may not sound like much but it can add up to thousands of euro over the full term of a mortgage. For example, on a €250,000 mortgage being repaid over 30 years, the difference between a rate of 3.65 per cent and 3.55 per cent is €14 a month or, to put it another way, more than €5,000 over the full term of the loan.

Ulster Bank's mortgage rates are competitive to start with and the U-First tracker variable rates of 3.55 per cent for loans of more than 60 per cent of the property value and 3.35 per cent for loans that are less than 60 per cent of the property value are second only to NIB's rates. However, NIB's tracker variable rates of 3.29 per cent for loans of less than 60 per cent of the property value and 3.49 per cent for loans that are between 60 and 80 per cent of the property value won't benefit most first-time buyers, who tend to borrow as much of the property value as possible over the longest terms available. NIB is an unusual lender in that it does not offer a 35-year term.

Consumers will have to weigh up the benefits of fee-free banking versus their likely need for the discounts on offer in conjunction with fee-based current account packages. People thinking of switching their account to NIB may be better off with their free Easy account if they usually keep their accounts in credit and pay their credit card balance every month, while Ulster Bank customers who are not borrowers may find it hard to justify the €108 fee on U-First.

Switching bank accounts has become easier since the introduction of the Irish Bankers Federation (IBF) code of practice on account switching in February 2005. Under this code, the "old" bank and the "new" bank must manage the process of switching over direct debits and standing orders within 10 days.

But most consumers who have switched bank accounts over the past year or so have not used the switching code, largely because they have decided to keep their old accounts open alongside their new free banking account, rather than shut it down completely.

Even with the new code, switching current accounts is something of a time-consuming exercise and, with all the banks now offering free banking of some kind, consumers will need to have a strong incentive to move.

The two big banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland, share 75 per cent of the current account market. AIB has recently decided to offer free transactions to customers who use both its online banking and debit card - conditions that are relatively easy for tech-savvy consumers to satisfy.

At Bank of Ireland, however, customers must have a balance of at least €500 in their account during the quarter to qualify for free transactions. Bank of Ireland customers who can't keep their balance up and AIB customers who want to remain offline can save money on fees by moving to a genuinely free current account.

They now have three banks - Ulster Bank, Permanent TSB and National Irish Bank - from which to choose.

A survey of more than 400 visitors to the Money Show personal finance exhibition suggests that one in five consumers have no idea what interest rates apply to their current and savings account.

The finding won't be particularly good news for National Irish Bank (NIB), which this week launched current account packages with the lowest overdraft and credit card rates in the State and savings accounts with rates among the best available.

Before the introduction of NIB's Easy, Easy Plus and Prestige accounts, the lowest authorised overdraft rate available on standard current accounts was 11.2 per cent APR (annual percentage rate of interest), available from both Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank.

NIB has now reduced authorised overdrafts to 9.82 per cent APR on its free Easy account and to 9.02 per cent APR and 8.48 per cent APR on its Easy Plus and Prestige accounts respectively.

It has also become the first bank to abolish referral fees, which apply when payments fail due to insufficient funds being present in accounts where no agreed overdraft is in place.

NIB has also overtaken Bank of Scotland Ireland as the cheapest credit card provider, charging just 9.1 per cent on the gold card available in conjunction with Easy Plus and 8.6 per cent on the platinum card available to Prestige account customers. But the Easy Plus and Prestige accounts are not free: consumers pay for the privilege of the lower overdraft and credit card rates. Easy Plus costs ¤75 a year, while Prestige has an annual fee of ¤125.

In exchange for these fees, NIB also pays interest on the money held in the current accounts, a practice that has fallen by the wayside in the Republic in recent years.

The only other banks to do so are AIB, which pays limited interest of 0.5 per cent on balances of up to €1,000, and Ulster Bank, which pays 0.25 per cent on balances in its U First current account.

NIB pays 1 per cent to Easy Plus customers and 1.75 per cent to Prestige customers.

The bank also throws in preferential savings rates, commission free foreign exchange and travel benefits, which it claims are worth between €150 and €550 a year. On the Prestige account, this includes free lounge access at certain airports, a benefit that may appeal to frequent fliers.

Wrapping up a current account with various discounts and lifestyle benefits is not a new phenomenon in Irish banking. Ulster Bank's U First account, which costs €108, includes discounts on personal and car loans, lifestyle benefits such as restaurant and ticket discounts, preferential savings rates and a €320 interest-free overdraft facility it calls a "buffer limit".

But its main advantage is for Ulster Bank mortgage customers, as they can avail of a 0.1 per cent discount on its tracker mortgages. A 0.1 per cent saving may not sound like much but it can add up to thousands of euro over the full term of a mortgage. For example, on a €250,000 mortgage being repaid over 30 years, the difference between a rate of 3.65 per cent and 3.55 per cent is €14 a month or, to put it another way, more than €5,000 over the full term of the loan.

Ulster Bank's mortgage rates are competitive to start with and the U-First tracker variable rates of 3.55 per cent for loans of more than 60 per cent of the property value and 3.35 per cent for loans that are less than 60 per cent of the property value are second only to NIB's rates. However, NIB's tracker variable rates of 3.29 per cent for loans of less than 60 per cent of the property value and 3.49 per cent for loans that are between 60 and 80 per cent of the property value won't benefit most first-time buyers, who tend to borrow as much of the property value as possible over the longest terms available. NIB is an unusual lender in that it does not offer a 35-year term.

Consumers will have to weigh up the benefits of fee-free banking versus their likely need for the discounts on offer in conjunction with fee-based current account packages. People thinking of switching their account to NIB may be better off with their free Easy account if they usually keep their accounts in credit and pay their credit card balance every month, while Ulster Bank customers who are not borrowers may find it hard to justify the €108 fee on U-First.

Switching bank accounts has become easier since the introduction of the Irish Bankers Federation (IBF) code of practice on account switching in February 2005. Under this code, the "old" bank and the "new" bank must manage the process of switching over direct debits and standing orders within 10 days.

But most consumers who have switched bank accounts over the past year or so have not used the switching code, largely because they have decided to keep their old accounts open alongside their new free banking account, rather than shut it down completely.

Even with the new code, switching current accounts is something of a time-consuming exercise and, with all the banks now offering free banking of some kind, consumers will need to have a strong incentive to move.

The two big banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland, share 75 per cent of the current account market. AIB has recently decided to offer free transactions to customers who use both its online banking and debit card - conditions that are relatively easy for tech-savvy consumers to satisfy.

At Bank of Ireland, however, customers must have a balance of at least €500 in their account during the quarter to qualify for free transactions. Bank of Ireland customers who can't keep their balance up and AIB customers who want to remain offline can save money on fees by moving to a genuinely free current account.

They now have three banks - Ulster Bank, Permanent TSB and National Irish Bank - from which to choose.