Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 8 December 2021

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

Withdrawal from Irish Banking Market: Engagement with Ulster Bank

Ms Jane Howard:

In terms of our customers with current and deposit accounts, we have to be very mindful of the competition laws here. Our customers have a choice of where they want to bank. I will ask Ms Arnett to speak in a moment about the Choose, Move and Close campaign we have launched to support customers with choosing another organisation, moving their banking to that organisation and closing their account.

It is also important I mention at this stage that we recognise the scale of customer movement is quite unprecedented for Ireland. Therefore, we have been engaging with the industry. We have started that engagement, through Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, BPFI, so that the other banks can also be prepared to take our customers when they have made their choice. When I use the term "banks", I mean that in the broadest in the sense. There are new entrants that might be a good solution for some customers. Some customers will want a full service bank. There are also credit unions, An Post and so on. We have started that engagement with the industry.

We have also started to engage with direct debit originators and the biggest employers in Ireland so that they also can be ready to support our customers when we move their direct debits and when people have to move their salaries. Finally, we have engaged with other organisations, such as Age Friendly Ireland, because we are very mindful we have some customers who will need more support than others and it is important we help them.

Perhaps Ms Arnett can speak to the question in terms of the Choose, Move and Close campaign.