An Post Smart Current Account Charges

An Post launched a new current bank account in 2017  called the “Smart Current Account”.  Their press release called it a “game-changer”  and highlighted the MoneyBack feature , claiming that customers could save €660 a year. That moneyback feature ended in April 2021.

We have taken a closer look at this An Post account to find out more about the charges and the potential money-back savings – but it doesn’t really look that good to us.

Monthly Charge – the account has a €5 a month maintenance charge which cannot be avoided. This works out at €60 a year and is the second most expensive  “maintenance fee” of any current account in Ireland.
On top of this, there is a 60c charge for each use of an ATM or for withdrawing cash (Note – one withdrawal at the Post Office branch each week is free).
They charge 3% for non-Euro purchases on their debit card – which is the highest in Ireland.
See comparison of Debit Card fees here.

You can see how these charges mount up and compare them to the fees on other bank accounts here in our Comparison of Irish Bank Charges

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Cashback

The options for money back on your spending with this An Post account were fairly limited – with only a few selected retailers involved.

Update – From April 30th 2021 – all the cashback rewards listed below ended.

• For example – you could get 5% of your debit card spend at Lidl back (only if your order is over €25).
• You could also get 10% of your SSE Airtricity  bills back if you paid by direct debit from your An Post account.
• There were also some short-lived moneyback offers with Elverys (8%) , Kennys Books (5%) , OutdoorLiving (5%) , Sunway (5%).

Overall – this An Post account seems to be a potentially expensive option. People on low incomes would be better off using the EBS current account combined with an account with N26 . (See Comparison)

(You can only apply for your  An Post Smart Account in person at  a  Post Office.)