Saturday opening extends

ULSTER Bank is to extend its Saturday opening policy to a further 15 branches across the island of Ireland, with 13 of them opening their doors from this weekend.

Bucking the broader global trend of moving financial services online, Ulster Bank said that some 150,000 weekend customers have visited their local branches since the launch of Saturday opening last September.

From this Saturday, some 58 branches will now open every Saturday from 10am to 1pm. The outlets added in the Republic are in Ballina, Clonmel, Mallow, Midleton, Mullingar and Tullamore. The Northern outlets are in Antrim, Carrickfergus, Larne, Derry, Downpatrick, Lurgan and Strabane.

Kilkenny and Killarney branches will follow on June 25, bringing the total number of branches opening on Saturdays to 60 across the island.

Ulster Bank chief executive of retail markets Richard Donnan said: “We’ve had a really positive response from customers. We’re listening to our customers all the time and they tell us they like the convenience of Saturday branch opening. Our efforts to improve banking and customer service standards for customers are ongoing.”