100 jobs to be lost as NIB closes

National Irish Bank is to close its network of 27 branches with the loss of at least 100 jobs, in a response to what the company described as the radically changed Irish banking environment.

NIB yesterday said that, from November, it will close its branch network and serve customers through a new personal banking centre. The bank said nine locations will be converted to personal banking units where customers can, by appointment, meet financial advisors face-to-face in Waterford, Athlone, Cork, Limerick, Letterkenny, and across Dublin in the IFSC, Tallaght, Swords, and Stillorgan.

“To support and facilitate this change, the bank’s new personal banking centre will be open seven days a week from September 2012, with extended opening hours of 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 4.30pm on Saturday and Sunday,” said a bank spokesperson.

“Customers can also continue to avail of cash and cheque lodgement facilities through the bank’s partnership with An Post. National Irish Bank is in the process of communicating directly with all of its customers. The changes will not affect the day-to-day running of customers’ accounts.”

Head of business development and personal banking, Jesper Nielsen, said: “The Irish banking landscape has changed dramatically in recent years and the traditional branch model is no longer the cornerstone of personal banking. We have recognised this and are building a new business model which responds to changing customer needs, leverages our market-leading technology and develops a profitable model and sustainable business for the Bank. Over the past two years, we have reduced the cost of running our business by 30%, while at the same time continuing to invest heavily in our technology platform as banking habits change.”

Mr Nielsen said more customers want to conduct their banking business by phone or over the internet.

He said in the past 12 months, the use of online banking in Ireland has increased by 14%, while the use of automated payments has increased by 16%, with cheque volumes declining by over 30% since 2005, with only 2% of Irish consumers using cheques more than once a week in 2011.