Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 14 September 2022

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

Banking Issues: Discussion

Mr. Patrick Farrell:

We watch our customer feedback on a weekly basis. Customers tell us they want to talk to people when they come into our branches. Our people are out front of house in the banking hall now. Many of the banking machines are quite state of the art, but the key is that customers are met by a person when they walk in, that they are welcomed and that they are asked what they are there to do on that day. Often, they are comfortable using the machines but they have the comfort of knowing that if they need help or assistance, as some do, that there is somebody there to give them a dig out. That is a real focus. It is not one size fits all. Some customers are very comfortable with digital, while others need that bit of extra help. We are investing in extra people as well as extra machines to facilitate customers and expand into the new communities Mr. Crowley talked about.