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 9.5% purchase rate is still the best around, especially as the first 6 months are at 0% interest. Their cash rate is also competitive at 11.2%.

NIB's Visa card is competitive with a 9.75% rate for both purchases and cash . . . after an introductory 5 months at 0%.

BEST BANK FOR YOUR MONEY

Pay your salary or 1500 a month into a Halifax current account and you can earn 10% interest on balances up to 2000. No transaction fees whatsoever and they also have the best overdraft rate of 9.43%.

BEST SAFE PLACE FOR YOUR SSIA LUMP SUM

First Active's eSavings account offers highest rates for SSIA savers with 5.22% on amounts up to 15K and 4.07% on amounts up to 1m.

BEST PERSONAL LOAN

First Active is offering the best rates for loans under 30K over five years of 6.8% APR. Tesco and Halifax both offer 6.9% for smaller cash boosts . . . and you do not have to be a current account customer.

BEST STOCKBROKING CHARGES

The cheapest way to play the stock market 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 applies.

BEST MORTGAGE SWITCHER

NIB leads the market for mortgage switchers with interest rates ranging between 0.5 and 0.59 percentage points above the ECB 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. And no penalties if you decide to switch again.

If you open up an Ulster Bank Current Account you can also switch your mortgage to them and get 1000 in the process along with a loan rate of 0.75% above the ECB rate.