Banking in Ireland

Opening an account is quick once you clear the classic chicken-and-egg problem — needing an address to bank, and a bank statement to prove an address.

The proof-of-address trap

Ireland’s traditional banks — AIB, Bank of Ireland, and permanent tsb — legally require original proof of address (a utility bill, tenancy agreement, or official letter) plus photo ID to open a current account, and most still insist on an in-branch appointment. The catch is obvious: you often can’t get a tenancy agreement or a utility bill without a bank account or a local income source. Newcomers solve this three ways: (1) get a signed letter from your new employer confirming your Irish address and start date, which most branches accept; (2) use a short-term Airbnb or corporate housing booking plus a letter from that landlord; or (3) sidestep the branch system entirely with a digital-first account.

Digital-first accounts: the newcomer default

Revolut and N26 have effectively become the default first account for people relocating to Ireland — both issue a fully functional Irish or EU IBAN from a phone app in minutes, require only a passport/ID scan and a selfie, and need no proof of address at all. They’re free at the basic tier, support instant SEPA transfers, and are widely accepted by employers for salary payment and by landlords for rent. The trade-off: they’re not always accepted for certain state processes (some mortgage or SUSI grant applications still want a "bricks and mortar" bank), and customer support is app/chat-only — no branch to walk into if something goes wrong.

Reading an Irish IBAN

Every Irish account number is expressed as a 22-character IBAN: IE (country) + 2 check digits + 4-letter bank code + 6-digit sort code (the branch identifier) + 8-digit account number — e.g. IE29 AIBK 9311 5212 3456 78. You’ll need the full IBAN (not just the old sort-code-and-account-number format) for salary setup, direct debits, and most online transfers since SEPA rules made it standard.

Building credit from zero

Ireland’s Central Credit Register (CCR), run by the Central Bank of Ireland, logs every loan, credit card, mortgage, and overdraft above roughly €500, and lenders are legally required to check it before approving new credit. Records are kept for 5 years after a loan is settled. If you’re arriving with no Irish credit file, you’re not blocked — you’re simply invisible to it, which some lenders treat as neutral and others treat cautiously. The fastest way to build a track record is a small, easily-serviced product first: a phone contract, a low-limit credit card from your new bank, or a modest personal loan, paid on time every month. A foreign credit history does not transfer, no matter how strong it was at home, so a spotless credit score abroad buys you nothing here — you effectively start at zero and build up over your first 12–18 months.

Mortgages, if you’re looking that far ahead

Irish mortgage lenders (AIB, Bank of Ireland, permanent tsb, and newer entrants like Avant Money) generally want to see at least 6–12 months of Irish payslips and an Irish credit footprint before approving a mortgage for a newcomer, on top of the standard Central Bank lending rules — a maximum loan of 4 times gross annual income for most buyers, and a minimum deposit of 10% for a first-time buyer (20% for second-time buyers). This is one of the strongest arguments for opening an Irish current account and building a local financial footprint early, well before you’re actually ready to buy.