Just a quarter of Ulster Bank and KBC accounts have been closed since the start of this year, despite intense efforts by the two lenders to wind down their operations here.
According to new data issued by the Central Bank, 600,311 new accounts have been opened in the three main remaining retail banks, Bank of Ireland, AIB and Permanent TSB, over that period.
The bulk of these, some 434,166, were current accounts, and the Central Bank said this was 46% higher than the number of accounts opened by this group of banks in the first eight months of previous years.
56% of the new accounts were opened online, while the remainder were opened in a branch.
The regulator said that the average waiting time for a branch appointment was eight working days at the end of August.
In total 292,996 accounts in Ulster Bank and KBC have been shut between the start of January and the end of August, with 97% of these held by private households.
140,573 of these were current accounts and 152,423 were deposit accounts, the regulator said, with 112,408 of the current accounts designated as active.
It added that the data suggests the pace of closures has accelerated in recent weeks, as the banks have begun customer and public awareness campaigns around the need to switch and close accounts.
Elsewhere, the number of active credit and debit cards held by customers of the exiting banks declined by 21% since the beginning of last year.
The Central Bank said the data was first in a new series of statistics it is collating on bank account migration which has been gathered by the five main lenders here.
From this point on, it said, it would be publishing the data on a monthly basis.
Despite just a quarter of accounts being closed in Ulster Bank and KBC, the regulator said it is positive to see that so many Ulster Bank and KBC customers have taken steps to move their accounts at this stage.
"However, more remains to be done to improve the experience of customers moving their account, and for too many customers that experience has not been satisfactory," said Colm Kincaid, Director of Consumer Protection at the Central Bank said.
"In particular, banks need to continue to increase resources and improve processes and training in order to equip their staff to meet the challenges this exercise presents."
"We will continue to engage closely with all of the banks as part of our supervisory work in the coming weeks and months to ensure that customers are properly supported."
At the start of the year, there were just under 1.25m current and deposit accounts in Ulster Bank and KBC.
By the end of August, this had fallen to 941,573 accounts.
Of these, 541,247 were current accounts, 453,076 of which were deemed by the banks to be active, and 344,462 were considered to be the customer's 'primary' account, the Central Bank said.
In May, Ulster Bank told an Oireachtas committee that it expects to cease transactions with customers by the end of March, while KBC said it expects to end transactions by the end of August.
However, both banks said that they would be flexible with these timelines.
Over the past few months, customers in both banks have been given six months’ notice to close their accounts and move them where necessary to other lenders.
The Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) said the data shows progress is being made and reflects the intensive and collaborative work which has been underway right across the sector and with key stakeholders.
"We acknowledge there is still work to be done as we move into the Autumn and expect to see increased activity by customers, however the industry is ready to respond to this and we are continuing to work closely together and alongside other sectors to ensure we can support customers in as seamless a manner as possible," said BPFI chief executive, Brian Hayes.
"We are urging all impacted customers who have yet to take action in moving provider to do so now."
But the Financial Services Union (FSU) said the data shows the two exiting banks need to extend their timelines for departure and called on the Central Bank to urgently intervene.
"The timelines set by UB and KBC for exiting the market are not realistic and need to be extended. There should be no cliff edge for customers," said John O'Connell, general secretary of the union.
"The Central Bank should inform KBC and Ulster Bank to extend their departure as the system is struggling under the strain of the additional workload, and consumers are struggling to get the support they require."
He added that all the account receiving banks are understaffed and ill prepared for the exits and need to resource up and hire additional staff.
