The most popular banks in Ireland are Allied Irish Bank (AIB), Bank of Ireland, KBC, and Ulster Bank. Although these financial institutions offer in-branch services, the banks tend to close early or are closed over the weekends. Mark Kennedy & Co. have written on the farmer’s distrust of the banks, the upskilling programme starting for bank workers, and the underlying pre-tax profit reported by the Bank of Ireland. Keep reading for more details into these news bulletins.
€419m half-year underlying pre-tax profit reported by Bank of Ireland
The Bank of Ireland has reported an underlying profit before tax of €419 million for the first six months of 2022. This is a significant decline from the €465 million reported at the same time last year. The bank also recorded an impairment charge for expected bad loans for the first six months of the year. €47 million of this reflects what is called an ‘uncertain environment’, while its proportion of non-performing loans now stands at 5.4% of its total loan book. The bank of Ireland is seeing a massive influx of new accounts. This is a result of the withdrawal of Ulster Bank and KBC from the Irish market.
Having a bank account is a must for managing day-to-day finances. Details of this matter can be found in the complete article.
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The upskilling programme launched for bank staff
Redundancies in the banking sector will affect many financial service employees in the coming months. To combat this a new upskilling programme has been launched to help those employees who will be impacted. The programme is a joint initiative between Financial Services Ireland, IFS Skillnet, the Institute of Banking (IOB), and the five pillar banks.
This programme aims to help workers to identify and validate existing skills and compare them to current market opportunities. Patricia Callan, Director of Financial Services Ireland. Continuing, she also said, “It will also offer a range of micro-learning, skills certificates and qualifications to enable individuals to learn about different career options and gain the necessary skills to prepare them for new roles”. To keep skills current, the programme will host a number of professional development activities and events. For more insight into the programme follow the link to the article.
Banks not trusted by farmers – Irish Banking Culture Board report
According to the latest report from the Irish Banking Culture Board, there is an “absence of trust” amongst farmers in banks. The report reveals that the farming sector requires banks to focus on addressing the low levels of trust. This comes after the farming community was surveyed as a specific group for the first time. In this survey they registered a trust score of -77. This ranking significantly lower than both the general population and SMEs.
Marion Kelly, CEO of the Irish Banking Culture Board said, “There is a sense that customer needs are not adequately understood”. Furthermore, she went on to say: “There are concerns around accessibility which I think is probably understandable given the changes in banking models and the reduction in branches”. Read the full article for a deeper understanding of the matter.