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 Jane Howard:

To go back, we started choose, move, close and some customers have acted as a consequence of that campaign and then we get the formal letter. This is about getting the right balance between too many communications and the right number of communications. Once a formal letter has been sent, we will continue to communicate to customers to understand why they have not taken action and see how we can support them. However, it is ultimately in the best interests of everybody and especially customers to find a new bank. We do not want people to be left in a position where they do not have an account. It is not in our interest and it is definitely not in our customers' interests, so we will be encouraging everybody to get on with the journey once we send the letter.

We will put what we call a no-transaction mark on the account at the end of the six months. I suspect that will also prompt customers to contact us, and if they are on their journey, we will be flexible in that time to help them complete that journey. We believe six months is enough but some people do not act, perhaps, until that no-transaction mark is applied. After one month, we will send the customer a cheque for his or her remaining balance, but we would hope most people will have acted.

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