NIB bucks trend on mortgage rate cuts

EBS has joined Permanent TSB, KBC and the former Irish Nationwide in passing on the full 0.25% cut in interest rates announced by the ECB.

However, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank, AIB — which is 99.8% state-owned — and Start Mortgages have yet to decide whether to follow suit, while the Danish-owned National Irish Bank has confirmed it is to increase from Friday its rates by almost 1%, adding €100 a month to a standard €200,000 mortgage.

NIB has sought to justify its stance on the grounds that it does not rely on the ECB for funding and, therefore, changes in its interest rates are not related to any ECB interest rate fluctuations. It says it is funded through its parent company Danske Bank. NIB’s variable rates will be increased by between 0.2% and 0.95%, to bring them to between 4.35% and 4.6%.