A quarter of Ulster and KBC accounts have been closed

€11bn in 941,000 accounts remains on deposit with both banks as they plan their exit from the Irish market

Overseen by the Central Bank, KBC and Ulster Bank have been urging their customers to close their accounts and move deposits and transactions to other institutions. File picture: Leah Farrell/Rollingnews.ie

Less than 25% of Ulster Bank and KBC bank accounts have been closed by their customers this year as both companies prepare to leave the Irish market.

New figures from the Central Bank show just under 300,000 current and deposit accounts have been closed by Ulster and KBC customers up until the end of August.

However, more than 941,000 accounts remain open with both banks. Of these, 541,247 were current accounts, of which 453,076 were designated as active accounts.

Overseen by the Central Bank, KBC and Ulster Bank have been urging their customers to close their accounts and move deposits and transactions to other institutions. Total household deposit balances of both exiting banks fell from €15.2bn at the end of December to €11bn at the end of July.

In an update, the Central Bank said 600,311 accounts were opened in the three main remaining banks in the first eight months of the year. This is approximately 46% higher than the number of accounts opened by this group of banks in the first eight months of previous years.

“It is positive to see that so many Ulster Bank and KBC customers have taken the steps to move their accounts at this stage in the process, and it is clear that bank staff are working extremely hard to assist those customers," the Central Bank's Director of Consumer Protection, Colm Kincaid said.

However, more remains to be done to improve the experience of customers moving their account, and for too many customers that experience has not been satisfactory. 

"In particular, banks need to continue to increase resources and improve processes and training in order to equip their staff to meet the challenges this exercise presents."

Of the total new accounts opened in the first eight months of 2022, 56% were opened online, while the remainder were opened in a branch. The average waiting time for a branch appointment was eight working days at the end of August 2022.

In an update yesterday, KBC Bank said it ceased the sale of all products to new and existing customers in July. KBC is transferring its customer products to Bank of Ireland and said its branches that currently operate to facilitate the closure of accounts will close permanently in six months' time.

KBC Hubs in Galway, Limerick, Lapps Quay Cork, Wilton Shopping Centre Cork, Waterford, Maynooth, Main Street Swords, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, College Green Dublin, Baggot Street Dublin and Stillorgan will close permanently on 10 March 2023. A single branch in Dublin will remain open until August 31 to facilitate remaining account closures.

KBC said there will be no immediate impact on branch staff and has begun the process of engagement with staff on eligibility for transfer to Bank of Ireland under their existing terms and conditions. "The approach to staff transfers and redundancies will be informed by this process, by our responsibility to staff and the ongoing needs of customers," the bank said. 

They added that there will be no bank-wide redundancies this year but that a small number of employees in selected teams will exit through redundancy by the end of 2022.