Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 18 May 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Withdrawal from Irish Banking Market: Engagement with Ulster Bank and KBC Ireland

Ms Elizabeth Arnett:

We are all trying to understand the cause and effect and what is the most effective trigger to prompt a customer to engage and take action. As Ms Howard has said, we started the process of engaging with customers last October. We reached out to well over 30,000 vulnerable and older customers and all sorts of other groups, including customers who rely on an overdraft, customers who are politically exposed persons and who may need additional time, and so on. All of that activity is contributing to the action we see today. That is what Ms Howard is referring to. We are definitely seeing an overlay of the public campaign we ran and the conversations in the media, in this committee room and in other places. That is certainly raising awareness among customers. We are seeing that. In the call-outs to older customers, we saw a very high degree of awareness. Many customers have the process of choosing, moving and closing well under way. A high percentage of those customers are safely through the process. That is borne out in our engagement with our colleagues in the Department of Social Protection, who tell us that there is a high level of engagement among those who receive pensions from the Department. As it stands, having sent 120,000 letters, 30,000 of our active current accounts have safely transacted through the choose, move and close process.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.