Retail Banks In Ireland

The banking industry in Ireland has suffered a very severe turndown in business in 2008/9.  After more than a decade of impressive economic growth in Ireland, the domestic Irish market slowed and went into recession. There were particular problems in the construction industry, and the banks were highly exposed to that sector.  In the latter half of 2008, the level of liquidity in the industry became so severe that the government became obliged to provide a guarantee to support all deposits held by Irish banks.  Subsequently, the government provided substantial funds to recapitalize the largest banks, and to nationalize one bank (Anglo-Irish Bank). The government devised a process to move substantial amounts of bank lending into a government agency, the National Assets Management Agency (NAMA).  At the date of writing this section, the relevant legislation is proceeding through the Irish Parliament (The Dáil). 

This website will not maintain a constantly updated status report on the rapidly changing position of the industry, and substantial reviews are constantly being published.

The banking business in Ireland has its origins in the British model of banking, and the origins of most of today’s Irish banks pre-date Irish independence.  Banking legislation is very similar to equivalent legislation in the UK.  Indeed, the overall code of legislation in Ireland and UK are based upon common law - other European codes are based upon civil law.  Banking standards (e.g. in relation to cheque design) are virtually identical to the UK equivalent.  Most of the retail banks in Ireland are either (a) subsidiaries of UK banks or (b) parent companies with subsidiaries owning branch networks in the UK.  Other countries with similar models of banking are Canada, Australia and New Zealand - all of them former British colonies.   In the context of Ireland's participation in the Eurozone, the banking business will progressively move to align some elements of its business with its Eurozone partners but will retain many of its traditional elements.

Historically, the most significant events which shaped Irish banking occurred in the late 1950s and in the 1960s.  Prior to that date there were 10 banks with high-street branches.  Over that period, the modern version of Bank of Ireland was formed by the takeover by Bank of Ireland of the Hibernian and National banks.  AIB was formed by the amalgamation of the Munster & Leinster, Provincial, and Royal banks.  Bank of Ireland and AIB together have dominated the Irish banking market since then.

The Central Bank classification

There are many ways of classifying banks.  The following is the classification used by the Central Bank for assembly of statistical information.  (Central Bank Quarterly Oct 2009)

Note that some financial conglomerates appear under more than one heading

The listed Credit Institutions: Retail Clearing are:- (1) AIB Mortgage Bank (2) Allied Irish Banks plc (3) Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank (4) The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland (5) National Irish Bank  Limited (6) Ulster Bank Ireland Limited

Our Classification

Our Retail Clearing classification would include banks which have a presence on multiple high streets and are direct participants in the national clearing provides a different list :-

Market Shares

A number of international commercial organisations produce regularly analyses of the Irish banking market by product and/or sector, and provide detailed market share information for each financial institution.  Such surveys are copyright.  among providers of such information are Datamonitor, the Info-shop , Mintel, and others.

There is no freely available source which provides market share information.  In respect of retail banking services in Ireland, we estimate that AIB and Bank of Ireland each have about 30% market share of most account types (excl mortgages) and services.  Ulster Bank's share is likely to exceed 10%. National Irish Bank is believed to be in the region of 10%, while permanentTSB is lower.  Bank of Scotland(Ireland) is a relative newcomer and has made some inroads in the business sector but has yet to make a significant impact in the personal sector.

Other banks offering retail services

Another bank offering attractive rates is Rabodirect.  RaboDirect  is part of the Dutch co-operative, Rabobank Group, and is regulated by the Dutch Central Bank.  It operates in Ireland under banking passport arrangements.