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

For that little bit extra, EBS and Anglo Irish Bank offer 7% interest on monthly deposits of 1,000 with Halifax offering the same rate up as far as 750.

If you don't want to take an investment risk with a large sum, then give it to Irish Nationwide, which has a two-year fixed rate of 9.25% on deposits between 25,000 and 1m.

BEST CREDIT CARDS

Halifax's purchase-rate 9.5% is still the best around, especially as the first six months are at 0% interest. Its cash rate is also competitive at 11.2% ? NIB's Visa card rate is a competitive 9.75% after an original five months at 0%, with a cash rate lower than Halifax's at 9.75%

BEST BANK FOR YOUR MONEY

Do your day to day banking with Halifax, keep the balance above 1,500 and earn 10% interest on your current account on balances up to 2,000. There are no transaction fees whatsoever and the bank also has the best overdraft rate of 9.43%.

BEST SAFE PLACE FOR YOUR SSIA LUMP SUM

First Active's eSavings account offers the highest rates for SSIA savers with a rate of 5.22% on amounts up to 15,000 and 4.07% on amounts up to 1m.

BEST PERSONAL LOAN

First Active is offering the best loan rates for loans under 20,000 over five years of 6.8% APR.

Halifax is offering 6.9% on loans between 2,500 and 25,000 but you do not have to be a Halifax customer to avail of this.

BEST STOCKBROKING CHARGES

The cheapest way to play the stock exchange is with Sharewatch which is charging 60 a year and 0.3% commission per online trade for buying and selling Irish shares. Minimum charge of 20.

BEST MORTGAGE SWITCHER
NIB leads the market for mortgage switchers with rates that go between 0.5 and 0.59 points above the ECB 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.

If you open an Ulster Bank current account you can also switch your mortgage and Ulster will give you 1,000, along with a loan rate that will be 0.75% above the ECB rate.