Bank of Ireland offers loans via British post offices

Bank of Ireland Group have announced that the first of a number of financial services products is now available under the joint venture between the British Post Office Limited and Bank of Ireland.

The product, an unsecured personal loan, can be obtained from the British Post Office's 16,500 branches - one of the largest retail networks in Europe.

Bank of Ireland, which operates in Britain mainly through Bristol & West plc as well as its own brand branch network, will invest £125m (€186.91m) in the venture over the next 10 years to provide core infrastructure and start-up costs.

The venture is equally owned by the Post Office Ltd and Bank of Ireland with profits split evenly between the two.