AIB gives the best rate (7.1%) for those who save between 10 and 300 a month.

If you have a bit more flash in your pay cheque, EBS and Anglo Irish Bank offer 7% interest on monthly deposits of up to 1000 with Halifax offering the same rate up to 750 a month.

Those with deeper pockets should look to ACCBank which offers a fixed rate of 4.73% APR on amounts above 100,000.

BEST CREDIT CARD?

NIB gives some of the best deals to its own customers with rates of 8.8% for Platinum Plus and 9.4% for Mastercard Gold.

For a less exclusive flexible friend go to Halifax whose purchase-rate is just 9.5% after six months at 0%. The cash rate is also competitive at 11.2%.

BEST BANK FOR YOUR MONEY?

Pay your salary or 1,500 a month into a Halifax current account and you can earn 10% interest on your balance up to 2,000. No transaction fees whatsoever and it 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 the cheapest seller of money in the country for loans between 2,000 and 30,000.

Tesco Personal Finance is a close second with loan rates of 6.9%.

BEST STOCKBROKING CHARGES?

The cheapest way to play the stock exchange is with Sharewatch which charges 60 a year and 0.3% commission per online trade in Irish shares.

Minimum charge 20.

For a more traditional institution try NIB's e-banking where fees start at 75.

For international trading check out firsttrade. com with fees starting at $6.95.

BEST MORTGAGE SWITCHER?

NIB leads the market for mortgage switchers with rates between 0.5 and 0.59 points above the ECB interest rate. NIB also doesn't penalise you if you switch again.

BEST FIXED-RATE MORTGAGE?

The best value longer-term fixed rate mortgages is with Halifax which offers 5.43% fixed APR to all customers over five years.