Banks struggle to keep up with volume of customer queries at their call centres

Call centres in five retail banks managed 10m calls in 2021

The Central Bank says improvements are required for retail banks’ customer support phone lines to cope with the increase in customer calls following the decision by KBC Bank Ireland and Ulster Bank to withdraw from the market.

The disruption caused by the exit of two retail banks from the Irish market has put unprecedented pressure on call centre staff in banks.

A review by the Central Bank assessed call wait times, call abandonment rates and resourcing levels across the retail banks in anticipation of an increase in customer engagement levels following the decision by KBC Bank Ireland and Ulster Bank to withdraw from the market.