Ulster Bank Ireland DAC presence in the Republic of Ireland

Following an extensive review of Ulster Bank Ireland DAC, a decision has been made for a phased withdrawal of all its banking activity and associated services within the Republic of Ireland over the next number of years.

What do customers need to do?

Nothing, there is no immediate impact on your products and your day to day banking, simply continue to bank with us as normal. We commit to keeping you updated and assure you that we will provide advance notice of any changes to your future banking services as a result of this decision.

Are we open for new business?

Yes – we will remain open for all new business as we work to find the solutions that will ensure continuity of support for you. This announcement of a phased withdrawal may result in the transfer of your product to another provider.  

To keep you up to date with what this means for you, we have put together these frequently asked questions and answers.

We would like to thank you for your ongoing business with us and assure you that we are committed to serving you and working in the best interests of all our customers.

Be fraud aware?

This decision may prompt fraudsters to attempt to take advantage of the situation. We will ensure all security measures continue to keep you protected. Please stay alert and watch out for scams and for more information please visit our security centre.

For all your personal banking needs please visit ulsterbank.ie/personal.html

For all your business banking needs please visit ulsterbank.ie/business.html

On 19 February 2021 we announced a phased withdrawal of all our banking activity and associated services within the Republic of Ireland. We now want to update this with important information regarding notice to close Personal Banking products/services to new business.

Ulster Bank Ireland DAC will not accept any new application requests with effect from close of business 29 October 2021. However, there are some exceptions to this change for existing customers.

• Mortgages: we will continue to accept applications from all existing customers for new mortgage lending after close of business 29 October 2021. It is important to understand that, should your mortgage be fully approved and offer letter issued, it will transfer to a new provider in the future. Please contact our mortgage team for support and assistance to inquire about applying on 0818 210 275. Open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm (except bank holidays).
• Overdrafts: we will accept overdraft applications for both new and increased limits from existing current account customers in limited circumstances to provide customers access to short term emergency funds.

There are some further exceptional circumstances, relating to Credit Cards, Home and Car Insurance and Financial Planning Advice, which may impact a limited number of customers. For more details please see our Frequently Asked Questions below.

How does this affect you?

• If you are not considering making an application to us between now and close of business 29 October 2021, there is no need for you to take any action. Your existing products with us are not affected right now. We will notify you of any changes to them and any action you need to take when necessary.
• If you have already made an application to us we will continue to support you throughout the process of your application until conclusion.
• If you are considering making an application to us  we will continue to accept applications from new and existing customers up to close of business 29 October 2021. After which only applications can be made by existing customers and in line with the exceptions which are detailed in our Frequently Asked Questions section below.

As part of our phased withdrawal plan, we will communicate with you directly in advance of any changes which affect you and any action required by you. We remain committed to keeping you informed as appropriate throughout.

Today, Ulster Bank announces an update on its phased withdrawal process, as confirmed on 19 February 2021 and further to the binding Agreement with AIB announced on 28 June 2021.

Ulster Bank and its parent NatWest Group have agreed a non-binding MOU with Permanent TSB Group (“PTSB”) for the sale of a perimeter comprising the performing non-tracker mortgages;  the performing loans in our micro-SME business; Ulster Bank's Lombard Asset Finance business, including the Lombard digital platform; and a subset of Ulster Bank branch locations. The proposed perimeter will include a total of approximately €7.6bn gross performing loans as at 31 March, the majority relating to non-tracker mortgages and PTSB are designated to acquire 25 of Ulster Bank’s 88 branch locations. This non-binding MOU is subject further due diligence, the negotiation and completion of a final binding agreement and the obtaining of regulatory approvals and satisfying other conditions.  The proposed sale may not complete on the terms contemplated in the MOU, when envisaged by the MOU, or at all.

There are customers and customer products which are not covered by today’s announcement and we will update on those as appropriate. While performing tracker mortgages are not part of today’s MOU, Ulster Bank and NatWest Group are working on a similar pathway for these customers with strategic banking counterparties. We will update in due course on this.

While there is no change for customers today, over the coming months, we will make a series of changes for our customers as we implement our phased withdrawal. We will proactively contact customers when they need to move bank and/ or close accounts.

We will ensure that customers have ample time/ notice periods as well as the support they need to complete the process.  We understand that choosing and moving to a new bank is a process that customers may wish to commence now and we are already talking to customers who are considering their options.

While we are not asking customers to move bank right now, we are ready to help those who have chosen their new bank.  Our branch and telephony teams are ready to support customers with the move and/ or close process and can be contacted here.

On 30 July we provided an update with information regarding notice to close Personal Banking products/services to new business and announced that Ulster Bank Ireland DAC will not accept any new application requests with effect from close of business 29th October 2021.

This has now come in to effect and Ulster Bank DAC is no longer accepting any new application requests from personal customers. There are some exceptions to this for existing customers.

Mortgages: we will continue to accept applications from all existing customers for new mortgage lending. It is important to understand that, should your mortgage be fully approved and offer letter issued, it will transfer to a new provider in the future. Please contact our mortgage team for support and assistance to inquire about applying on 0818 210 275. Open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm (except bank holidays).

Overdrafts: we will accept overdraft applications for both new and increased limits from existing current account customers in limited circumstances to provide customers access to short term emergency funds.

There are some further exceptional circumstances, relating to Credit Cards, Home and Car Insurance and Financial Planning Advice, which may impact a limited number of customers. For more details please see our Frequently Asked Questions below.

How does this affect you?

• Your existing products with us are not affected right now. We will notify you of any changes to them and any action you need to take when necessary.
  
• If you have already made an application to us we will continue to support you throughout the process of your application until conclusion.
• Only applications can be made by existing customers and in line with the exceptions which are detailed in our Frequently Asked Questions section below.

As part of our phased withdrawal plan, we will communicate with you directly in advance of any changes which affect you and any action required by you. We remain committed to keeping you informed as appropriate throughout. While we are not asking customers to move bank right now, our teams are ready to help those who have chosen their new bank with the move and close process. Call into an Ulster Bank branch, or contact your Relationship Manager.

Today, Ulster Bank announces an update on its phased withdrawal process, as confirmed on 19 February 2021, binding agreement with AIB on 28 June 2021 and non-binding memorandum of understanding with Permanent TSB Group (“Permanent TSB”) on 23 July 2021.

Ulster Bank and its parent NatWest Group have agreed a binding agreement with Permanent TSB for the sale of performing non-tracker mortgages; the performing loans in our micro-SME business, Ulster Bank’s Lombard Asset Finance business, including the Lombard digital platform; and a subset of Ulster Bank branch locations.

The proposed sale will include a total of approximately €7.6bn gross performing loans as at 30 June 2021, the majority relating to non-tracker mortgages, and 25 of Ulster Bank’s 88 branch locations. The transaction is subject to further due diligence, obtaining regulatory approvals and satisfying other conditions. The proposed sale may not complete on the terms contemplated in the binding agreement, when envisaged by the binding agreement, or at all.

While performing tracker mortgages are not part of today’s binding agreement, Ulster Bank and NatWest Group are working on a pathway for these customers and a process is underway in this regard. We will update on this in due course.

There are customers and customer products which are not covered by today’s announcement and we will update on those as appropriate. While there is no change for customers today, in early 2022 we will begin to serve formal account closure notice to customers who have current and deposit accounts. This means that customers will need to Choose a new bank and prepare to Move and Close their accounts. We will ensure customers, including those in vulnerable situations, have ample notice periods as well as the support they need to complete the process.

We understand that choosing and moving to a new bank is a process that customers may wish to commence now, and we are already talking to customers who are considering their options. While we are not asking customers to move bank right now, we are ready to help those who have chosen their new bank. Our branch and telephony teams are ready to support customers with the move / and or close process and can be contacted here.