RaboDirect collects €700m in first year of operation

Irish savers have placed €700 million with Dutch online bank RaboDirect.ie in its first year of business in the Republic.

RaboDirect said it was on track to exceed €1 billion worth of deposits within the next six months. It has also attracted €20 million to its investment products, which give people access to funds managed by Merrill Lynch, Henderson and Robeco.

RaboDirect yesterday marked its first birthday by launching two new funds, the Merrill Lynch Japan Opportunities Fund and the Henderson Horizon Asia-Pacific Property Equities Fund.

Greg McAweeney, general manager of RaboDirect, said the savings market had become more competitive since it first launched. He said the bank was attracting customers from all the main banks at a faster rate now than ever, despite seeing the interest rate it pays overtaken by other financial institutions, because its account was more flexible than rival products.

"People are shopping around more vigorously now, although inertia is still a factor," he said.

More than 100 of its customers have deposited more than a million euro at the bank, while over half of its customers hold savings of less than €10,000.

Some 15 per cent of RaboDirect's customers are over 55, which Mr McAweeney said debunked the myth that older people will not bank online.

A survey of visitors to RaboDirect's website has found that among those who hold Special Savings Incentive Accounts (SSIAs), 55 per cent intend to reinvest their money.

Almost 60 per cent of the 1,068 people surveyed by the bank said they did their own research when it came to savings and investment advice.