AIB u-turn shows banks must never take customers for granted – Kyne

AIB’s reversal of an initial decision to make 70 branches cashless should be a lesson to all banks to respect their loyal customers and never take them for granted, a Fine Gael Senator has said.

Senator Sean Kyne further said that AIB must still come before the Oireachtas Finance Committee to explain how this announcement came about, causing such shock and worry to businesspeople and vulnerable customers all around the country.

Senator Kyne said, “While I welcome AIB’s reversal of their initial decision to drastically reduce cash services, this must be a lesson to all banks to respect their loyal customers and never take them for granted.

“The announcement that AIB were planning to severely curtail cash services showed absolutely no regard for its customers. Such a decision would have had a serious impact on businesspeople and ordinary customers, particularly older and vulnerable people, in urban and rural areas.

“Furthermore, Government should never have been blindsided by AIB like this, particularly as a major shareholder in the bank.

“AIB made no mention of this plan when they were at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance. In fact they went to the trouble of emphasising the value they place on face-to-face banking and how important their wide network of branches is to them.

“They also stressed how they prioritise vulnerable customers, whereas in reality removing cash services from such a significant number of branches would have been extremely detrimental for older and vulnerable customers.

“AIB need to return to the Oireachtas Finance Committee urgently to account for how this shock announcement came about and to give a solid commitment to customers in relation to cash services”, Senator Kyne concluded.