New figures from the Central Bank show that the number of account closures at Ulster Bank and KBC Bank Ireland rose in January from December as the two lenders continue their withdrawal from the Irish market.
The number of new accounts opened at the country's remaining banks also rose last month.
Today's Central Bank figures reveal that a total of 81,799 current and deposit accounts were closed in Ulster Bank and KBC Bank Ireland in the five weeks to the end of January.
This represented an increase of 12% compared with the five weeks to the end of December, and brings the total number of accounts closed by these two banks since the beginning of 2022 to 696,674.
Of these, 364,996 were current accounts, and 331,678 were deposit accounts.
In 2021, Ulster Bank, which is owned by NatWest, and KBC Bank Ireland announced plans to leave the Irish market in phased withdrawals.
The Central Bank said a total of 316,804 current accounts remained open in Ulster Bank and KBC Bank at the end of January, down 54% since the start of 2022.
Of the remaining current accounts, 129,832 were deemed by the banks to be the customer's "primary" account.
But the Central Bank noted that updated information showed that a significant proportion of current accounts currently defined as primary are showing low levels of customer reliance.
It also said the latest information from additional data sources, including the Department of Social Protection and its debit and credit card statistics, continue to show a significant decline in overall customer activity within Ulster Bank and KBC Bank.
Meanwhile, a total of 1,002,236 current and deposit accounts were opened across the three largest remaining retail banks - AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB - since the start of 2022 as Ulster Bank and KCB customers moved to new lenders.
In the five weeks to the end of January, a total of 78,604 accounts were opened - an increase of 40% compared with the five weeks to the end of December.
Earlier this month, Ulster Bank said it will start the freezing of personal and commercial customer accounts with higher levels of activity on or after 2 February.
