The boss of AIB admitted the bank “got it wrong” and does not have plans to revisit turning 70 of its 170 branches into cashless outlets.
The company did a U-turn last week after a public outcry and intervention led by Taoiseach Micheal Martin. If implemented, the move could have left AIB customers in parts of Co Kerry travelling up to 70km to access an alternative cash service.
Speaking about the backlash, the bank’s chief executive Colin Hunt said: “Customers made it clear they did not want it to happen. We got it wrong. We made a mistake. We’re not going to run ahead of our customers again.”
Read more: AIB cashless branches: Full list of Dublin locations making change
Mr Hunt added the lender had learned a lesson that they “moved far too far, far too fast”. The announcement came while Mr Martin was visiting Japan last week and called on the bank to reconsider the move.
Within one day of public backlash, AIB reversed its decision. Speaking to RTE yesterday, Mr Hunt said the plan will not be revisited and existing branch services will continue as they are today.
He guaranteed that those branches would remain in place for as long as he is at the helm. He added: “I can give you that guarantee.”
He was speaking as the bank posted its latest earnings report, which revealed its total income had risen 8% to €1.3billion and had posted a net profit of €477million for the period. The lender said it was in “robust financial health” and will benefit from income growth as the European Central Bank hikes interest rates.
AIB also confirmed it has now moved ahead to strike a binding agreement to acquire 47,000 tracker mortgages in a €5.7billion loan book from Ulster Bank which is leaving the banking market in the Republic. Mr Hunt signalled the bank would pass on future interest rate increases from the ECB.
The bank chose not to pass last week’s 0.5% increase on to its variable or fixed rate customers. He added: “We are expecting to see further rate increases over the course of the next number of quarters. It looks like we’ll be having further rate increases in September.
“As we see those official rate increases coming through, we will be considering the appropriate pricing for our products right the way across the mortgage suite.”
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