The Banking and Payments Federation Ireland is urging small and medium-sized businesses that have their current accounts with Ulster Bank and KBC to take action, as both banks prepare to exit the Irish market.
The latest figures from the Central Bank show that 23,000 business current accounts were still open with outgoing banks at the end of the last month.
Today, BPFI is organizing a round table with business representative bodies and stakeholders to strengthen the coordinated approach for professional customers who switch accounts and to ensure that SMEs are supported throughout the process.
“Significant progress was made by the industry in moving hundreds of thousands of customer accounts during the year, including more than 63,000 business current accounts,” said Brian Hayes, Managing Director of BPFI.
“There is undoubtedly still a lot of work to be done, especially in the migration of SME customers,” he added.
Mr. Hayes called on companies that have not yet taken action to do so as soon as possible.
He said the account transfer process can be longer and more complex for business customers than for personal customers.
“While some businesses may just need a simple account with online banking capability and perhaps a deposit account, more businesses will need cash management or payments facilities,” he said. he declares.
“It is particularly important for a large proportion of businesses to ensure that credit facilities such as overdrafts, loans or credit cards are in place, as these are not automatically transferred to a new supplier. and may take some time to establish,” he added. .
BPFI has also released its top tips for businesses switching bank accounts, which highlight key steps businesses should take to make the account transfer process as easy as possible.
