Bank of Scotland (Ireland) will tomorrow begin opening the first branches of its new retail banking network in Ireland. 46 new BoS (Ireland) branches will open over the next 14 months.
The first three branches to open tomorrow are in Ballyfermot and Dun Laoghaire in Dublin and Limerick. Swords in north county Dublin will open later this month.
Telephone banking will be available from tomorrow through the bank's new customer service centre in Dundalk. Online banking will follow next year.
The bank bought 54 ESB shops around the country last March for around €120m so it could develop a branch network.
Bank of Scotland (Ireland) is also launching a monthly savings account, paying 3.75% in interest. The bank promises a rapid series of product launches as it focuses on winning customers from both Bank of Ireland and AIB. The product range will initially cover savings, mortgages, credit cards, personal loans and mortgage related insurance products.
BoS (Ireland) is also proposing to open its branches for longer hours than its current competitors. Each branch will be open at least from 9am to 5pm from Monday to Friday. All branches will also be open on Saturday from 9am to 12 noon, with some branches in major city centres and shopping centre locations opening even longer.
Four of the bank's new branches will be in Dublin, including a flagship branch in the bank's new headquarters on St Stephen's Green. There will be 13 branches in Greater Dublin, 11 branches in Leinsuter and a similar number in Munster including three in Cork and two in Limerick. There will be six branches in Connacht, including two in Galway, and one in Co Donegal.
'We are bringing value for money to customers. They now have a real alternative to the two bigh Irish banks,' commented Mark Duffy, CEO at Bank of Scotland (Ireland). 'We are building a major Irish retail banking network from scratch in two years, something which has not been done before'.
'Ireland is one of Europe's most outstanding economies. It is in very good shape and the outlook is positive,' said James Crosby, Group Chief Executive at HBOS.
'Our strategy is about giving Irish banking customers value for money and our shareholders a better return,' he added.
The bank first entered the Irish mortgage market about six years ago. It is owned by British bank Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS).
