AIB has moved to reassure a group of tracker mortgage customers, who received letters indicating their repayments were set to increase more than expected in October, that they will not face new repayments greater than they had anticipated.
The bank said tracker mortgage customers, whose loans were among more than 30,000 that have been transferred across from departing Ulster Bank, received a letter issued by AIB in recent days following the July ECB rate increase.
The letters resulted in the customers being notified of a monthly payment change scheduled to take effect in October.
But the bank said the monthly payment change was incorrect.
The letters sparked concern among some of those that received them, with the Irish Independent reporting that some were facing significant increases in their repayments.
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AIB has apologised for any anxiety caused and has assured customers it will take all corrective action necessary to resolve the issue.
The bank is investigating what led to the inclusion of higher than expected repayments in the letters, but in the meantime it said customers do not need to take any action and will not face higher than anticipated payments in October.
"We will issue revised letters with corrected payment amounts in the coming weeks," it said.
"In the meantime, there is no change to their monthly repayments. Customers will not face repayments greater than they had originally expected following the ECB increase."
It is not yet clear how many customers received a letter with the unexpected repayment details, or what caused the issue.
"This scenario we are investigating particularly relates to a group of customers who have a mortgage loan which is due to expire in the short term (over the next few months) or where customers have recently made an out of course repayment to their mortgage," the AIB statement said.
One customer told RTÉ News that Ulster Bank had informed them in June that their mortgage repayments would be increasing by €2.46 a month following a 0.25% increase in rates by the ECB.
But after their loan had moved to AIB in July, they received a letter in recent days saying their repayments would increase by €66.01 a month following the latest 0.25% increase in ECB rates.
Ulster Bank said it is continuing to liaise with AIB on the issue.
"AIB will engage with these customers ahead of their October repayment to ensure that the new amount aligns with their expectations," it said.
The Central Bank confirmed it is aware of the issue.
"We are in contact with both AIB and Ulster Bank in relation to this issue to ensure that any issues/errors identified are resolved for consumers," the regulator said in a statement.
"Under the Consumer Protection Code, regulated entities must correct errors and handle complaints speedily, efficiently and fairly."
"When failures or breaches occur that impact customers, the Central Bank expects regulated entities to remediate and rectify without delay, to ensure that customers are treated fairly and are put back in the position they would have been in had it not occurred."
