AIB offers an AER for regular savers of 7.1 % for amounts between 10 and 300 a month.

For large deposits RaboDirect is offering 5% on amounts up to 10,000.

Irish Nationwide is the best choice for big earners with a two-year "xed rate of 9% on deposits between 20,000 and 1m.

BEST CREDIT CARDS ?
Halifax is offering 0% on balance transfers for the "rst six months and 0% on purchases for the same period; afterwards, the rate rises to 9.4% on purchases.

NIB's Mastercard Gold offers the 9.4% interest rate after eight weeks of free credit.

BEST BANK FOR YOUR MONEY?

Halifax will launch its new current account from tomorrow, offering 10% credit interest on balances up to 2,000 but 0% afterwards. No transaction fees are included and Halifax has the cheapest overdraft rate at 9.43% APR.

BEST SAFE PLACE FOR YOUR SSIA LUMP SUM?

Rabobank offers 5% on 10,000, but a 3.8% fixed rate for 12 months.

For those who don't trust the internet and prefer paper, Northern Rock is offering 4.5%

BEST STOCKBROKING CHARGES
Sharewatch for buying and selling Irish and British shares . . . 60 a year and 0.4% commission per trade. There is a minimum charge of 30.

BEST MORTGAGE SWITCHER?

National Irish Bank offers the most transparent remortgage, with fewest restrictions, at between 0.5 and 0.59 points above the European Central Bank interest rate. If you are looking for a mortgage at 60% of the value of your home, it can be a big saving over the life of the loan. NIB also doesn't penalise you if you decide to switch again.

Ulster Bank offers a 1,000 gift to switch, plus a loan rate that is 0.75 points above the ECB rate, making it a close second, particularly after dropping a lot of fine print.