50,000 KBC and Ulster bank customers still to find new bank, committee to hear
Both Ulster Bank and KBC announced plans to leave the retail banking market in the Republic in 2021. Picture: Denis Minihane
More than 50,000 KBC and Ulster Bank customers have just weeks to find another bank, according to the CEOs of the two banks that are quitting Ireland.
In statements to this afternoon’s Oireachtas Finance Committee they will say that thousands of the still active accounts are run by people described as “vulnerable”.
Of the 26,000 KBC account holders that still need to find another bank, 3,200 still receive their social welfare payments through their KBC account.
Of the bank’s vulnerable account holders, some 10% still have their account open — but the total figure has not been made public.
Ulster Bank, which says it has 2,000 “vulnerable” account holders, says it still has around 34,400 personal accounts and 13,300 business accounts open.
Of those, 20,000 are to be frozen “as a last attempt to engage with them”.
Of their active personal account holders, some 5,500 still receive welfare benefits, of which around half is child benefit.
The large number of accounts still open comes as bank branches are set to close their doors for the last time in coming weeks.
Ulster Bank, for example, will cease “normal transactions” in branches by March 31, and all branches will then close by April 21. Ulster Bank CEO Jane Howard will tell the committee: “We continue to contact our customers reminding them of the need to take action, advertising nationally and locally, engaging with advocacy groups and of course helping customers directly in branch, online and over the phone.
“It is in customers' best interests to be with another service provider who can meet their financial needs into the future.
“We are now moving to freeze these accounts as a last attempt to engage with these customers."
KBC CEO Frank Jansen will tell the committee: “In May 2022 we estimated, based on our data, that 52,000 of the 130,000 total number of KBC current account holders would need to open a new account or move to a new provider.
“Also based on our data, we estimated that the remaining 78,000 already had an account with another provider.
“Today, our estimates show that the number who need to open an account or move to a new provider is down 50% to 26,000.
“I can confirm that all current account customers have now received account closure notices."
He will say the bank has been focused on taking care of "priority" customers, including those in a vulnerable position and people over 65.
“They were prioritised from the outset, and we can confirm that more than 90% of those accounts are now inactive.
“While there is more work to be done, we have made good progress on closing current accounts and on helping our customers move their daily banking to a new provider.”
Ulster Bank and KBC announced plans to leave the retail banking market in the Republic in 2021.
Last September, Ulster Bank indicated its business customers had been slow to switch accounts due to the “complexity” of the process.
