PTSB launched a new current account in 2016 called Explore . The main feature of this PTSB Explore current account is the ability to earn cash rewards for using debit cards and by paying specific companies by direct debit.
The account has a €6 per month service charge – (€72 a year) unless account holder’s maintain a balance of €2,500 in their account every day.
With the new PTSB Explore account, customers can only offset the €6 monthly admin fee by earning rewards. It is possible to earn more rewards than the admin fee. Making a purchase with a debit card will earn 10c. There is a €5 monthly cap on rewards from debit cards. If you used a debit card 60 times a month – the cashback would pay for the admin fees of €6.
Larger rewards can be earned by paying certain bills by direct debit.
Paying Sky bills by direct debit will earn 5% . So an annual Sky bill of €1000 would earn €50 in rewards.
Paying SSE Airtricity bills by direct debit will earn 2% reward – so for average usage of energy, this would mean cashback of about €40 a year. You could easily save more than €40 in a year by switching energy supplier. Check our Energy Price Comparison here for the latest deals.
There are other ways to get fee-free banking in Ireland – but the choices are more limited than they were a few years ago.
See our Comparison of Current Account Charges here