Ulster Bank closes ahead of rebrand
Ulster Bank in Ballyjamesduff shut its doors for the final time at lunchtime last Friday, while the branch in Ballyconnell will close this Friday, January 13, ahead of its transfer to Permanent TSB.
The Ballyjamesduff branch was among the first tranche of Ulster Bank branches to close as part of the brand's withdrawal from the Irish market.
The 12 outlets closed at lunchtime, but will reopen later this month or early next month, rebranded and refitted as PTSB branches.
The Ulster Bank branch in Ballyconnell will shut on Friday, one of 13 to close on that day, all of which will also reopen as PTSB outlets in the coming weeks.
PTSB hopes to fully complete the migration of assets purchased from Ulster Bank by the end of June. This includes Ulster Bank's performing non-tracker residential mortgage business, made up of loans estimated to be worth €6.2bn. The Ulster Bank SME and asset finance businesses will also transfer to PTSB.
Up to 450 staff will transfer from Ulster Bank to Permanent TSB as part of the wider deal. The remaining 63 Ulster Bank branches across Ireland, including the branch in Cavan Town, will remain open for the time being. A final closure date is not yet known but is expected before year end.
Ulster Bank has not yet confirmed the date it intends to cease offering all normal retail banking services in Ireland.
Last week the bank resumed the process of freezing the accounts of customers whose six month notice periods had expired. This was paused on December 9 to prevent customers facing financial hardship over the Christmas period. The State’s third biggest lender, a brand synonymous with this region for 180 years, confirmed in 2021 that it planned to disappear from the retail landscape in the 26 counties. Ulster Bank previously shut branches in Belturbet, Killeshandra, Kilnaleck, and a part-time operation in Swanlinbar in 2013, along with the bank’s branch in Castlepollard. The following year branches in Clones and Castleblayney in Co Monaghan; Granard in Co Longford and Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim, also closed.
Then in 2017, the lender closed two more branches locally - this time in Arva and Cootehill.