Locals in Kilkee have expressed shock and anger after learning the town’s only bank will no longer operate over the counter services.
From mid-August, the Bank of Ireland in Ennis will be the only branch in the county to operate full-time counters.
Kilkee, Miltown Malbay and Tulla will move to self-service and advice, while Kilrush, Scarriff and Ennistymon services will be scaled back to morning only.
Community activist John Williams has written to the bank’s CEO and retail manager to outline his anger at the reconfiguration of services in the town’s only bank.
In a statement to Clare FM, Bank of Ireland says it’s tailoring services to customers needs and that just 3 percent of services take place over the counter.
John says the move will have a negative impact on retailers, tourists and pensioners.
Under the new system, the Kilkee, Miltown, Tulla and Scarriff branches will all conduct business through machines, with staff on hand to assist people.
Foreign exchange and coin services will no longer be in operation.
Imelda Bourke runs The Pantry cafe across the street from Bank of Ireland – she says it’s going to have a major impact on herself and other business owners in Kilkee.
Full Statement from Bank Of Ireland:
When we look at trends over time within a branch’s catchment area and see a consistent decrease in counter activity, we reconfigure the branch to support how our customers are using it. That means moving staff from behind the counter directly onto the floor, where they can provide advice and assistance to customers including in the use of self-service options. This change has been very successful in a growing number of our branches, where we have seen an increase in transactions happening in branch through the enhanced availability of self-service options.
Our customers are rapidly changing the way they bank, just as they are changing the way they buy goods or services online and communicate with each other. Today, only 3% of our customers’ total transactions are conducted over the counter – 97% of all transactions take place through other channels. For example, every month, we have eight million interactions with our customers on our mobile app, and over 14 million interactions per month through the mobile app, online banking, and contact centres combined. In addition, the use of credit and debit card and contactless banking continues to grow, with demand for cheques, foreign currency and coin services continuing to significantly reduce.
Kilkee, Miltown Malbay and Tulla branches are adopting the ‘Advice & Self Service’ model which is already in place in some locations nationwide. Advice & Self Service branches continue to provide customers with a comprehensive range of products and services, access to online and 365 phone services, the ability to lodge and withdraw cash from easy to use self-service machines. They also enable greater availability of branch staff to provide personalised financial and banking advice. Foreign currency exchange and coin transaction services will no longer be available in these branches. If customers require a counter service, we will introduce them to the branch of their choice locally.
In the case of the Ennistymon, Kilrush, Scariff and Shannon Industrial Estate branches we are moving to a five day ‘morning-only counter service’, with staff available on the floor for the afternoon.
We continue to invest in and improve our customer offerings. Business and retail customers increasingly require access to 24/7 facilities for lodgement and withdrawal. Our staff will be available on the floor to assist customers to use the available in-branch services and advise on products such as mortgages, investments, and insurance. Implementation of these changes is taking place on a phased basis with a two-month period for comprehensive customer notification. Bank of Ireland is committed to supporting vulnerable and elderly customers and a dedicated team provides additional support in the use of our digital and self-service options – 30,000 customers attended these ‘Tea and Teach’ sessions last year.
