I I think the timing of this Kieran is
absolutely curious like it's really
really weird here here they are trying
to take over company uh customers from
Ulster Bank and KBC and at the same time
they're saying to two cohorts of
customers we really really don't want
you and that they are smes who rely on
coins and cash for late night businesses
like pubs and restaurants and bars and
other things and over 65s now over 65s
it seems to me are a completely
dispensable customer to aib they don't
want them they have money cash on
Deposit they don't want that they don't
pay Bank fees so they're a loss they
don't want them going into branches and
and this is going to hugely affect
people like my mom who I spent the last
two months she's nearly 85 transferring
her from Ulster Bank to aib to a branch
she specifically chose because it is a
branch she wants to be no I'm sure eib
would say that should she go in in the
future into this cashless Branch there
will be people there to assist her doing
everything digitally how
I have to tell you your branch is on the
list so from here on in they don't want
you as a customer it means that I now
have to go with her she's not going to
go online she's not going to be
digitalized in a hub somewhere and she
doesn't want a stranger doing her
business with her so they don't want her
yet she wants a branch now that is not
on now our AI be a social service no
they're not but what they're effectively
saying to my mum and all of the other
older people out there is Shag off and
use the post office and I don't think
that's fair when we own most of that
bank still not I assume you would be in
full agreement with much of what your
neighbors just said largely absolutely I
mean cash matters to a lot of people and
you'll have some older people who are
using the internet who are quite happy
with online banking but you'll have many
who are not and we know from the
Department of finance's own surveys that
more than half of older people are going
into their Branch at least once a month
if not more regularly many people are
paying their bills in the bank and of
course having the cash lets you manage
your life so if you're not not using the
internet you can't check your balance
online you can't necessarily manage your
Affairs through tapping or through
having everything you know cashless
people like to have the ability to get
their cash and of course if the Branch
goes cashless it means there's no ATM so
if you do find an ATM it might be a
private one you're paying extra fees out
of your pension every week just to get
access to your your pension modest
enough as it is so it's a real important
thing for many many people that they
have access to cash so they can go about
their lives and these are often loyal
customers for 50 60 years who are now
told well you know we've made the profit
out of you and now we're not going to
provide you with the service for the you
know for the remainder of your life
that's just it's very unfair to many
people and and we know because there's
been much coverage of it on this show
and elsewhere that it was an option for
them is to switch Banks switching banks
is not easy as well and it's often very
hard to do that with a person you're
expected to do much of it where online
well absolutely and if you're not online
and we know that you know certainly at
least half of older persons are not you
know they don't have the skills to be
online to this level of online activity
then what are they meant to do and not
everybody has children and certainly
many people don't want to be relying on
other people they want to be independent
living their lives and they don't want
to have to rely on someone else to help
them out and of course on the hard edge
of that there's a risk of fraud there's
a risk of abuse if people are having to
share their private information with
other people so that's that's a real
concern and if the pillar Banks they
really treat us like fools don't they I
mean they close branches to suit
themselves they charge us the highest
interest rates in Europe they make it
incredibly difficult to switch Bank when
people are forced to switch bank and now
this well I have to say somebody would
ask me to help them to do that very job
of who you know to open an account in
aib we went in uh into an aib not too
far from where I am and we were told
we'd have six wait six or eight weeks to
actually get an appointment to sit down
and open an account and we did go across
the road to another bank and it wasn't
the case they were able to do it within
a couple of days but like in my own
consistency of casablani where I've in
office and there is a hive of activity
on the Main Street there's lots of
farmers living in the local area there's
lots of older people in the local area
the demographic is really mixed it is
really
irreprehensible to do such a thing
because they've already lost
um Bank of Ireland in in casablane the
only ATM left in the town is aib and
we're actually down to their credit
unions and post offices that's what
we're down to character cross is the
same it's another of these uh 70 Banks
that's going to be cashless and again
it's a bank actually I go into quite a
lot myself it's in the center of the
Town very nice staff there but there's
always been uh this kind of intent to
push people onto machines and you know
get them to be online and to use the
apps but absolutely there's a whole
generation of people that will never do
that and don't trust that and it really
feeds into this mistrust that there is
already there around the pillar Banks
and around banks that that really push
people out of their front door I'm not
unconscious to be people listening to
this who think well for them that they
still have a post office in the couple
of places that leave mentioned because
others won't even have that option yeah
there's there's a lot of people out
there that are are really in in trouble
today small businesses particularly I
was mentioned earlier you know and often
small businesses pubs restaurants shops
they they used to go on a particular
morning get all their their calling do
all of that now that's been pushed maybe
another 10 or 15 miles away further for
them to do it and the when they go to
those other branches now that means that
the amount of of people that are coming
to get that service has doubled or
tripled and that's going to get away
busier so you know it's it's called huge
pressure on people across the whole
country it's it's just I I think another
sense of of of a particularly rural
areas and more isolated areas being
abandoned by corporate sector by
particularly the bank and sector we've
seen not that long ago I seem to say me
and drop Shambo bank if Ireland closed
Manor Hamilton Bank of Ireland closed
now we see that the aib in valdemore
which is beside me as well is going
cashless that means that the ATM is
going to be gone the only other ATM in
the town is in in a shop which closes at
a particular time of the evening so if
if people want to go to take one year
out of an ATM there isn't going to be
one available the post office is only
open certain hours as well you know it's
just it's just a ridiculous situation
that the banks can do this the fact is
the state owns a big portion of eib as
well and I think that the government
should be bringing a bit of pressure to
yield there for to ensure that they do
actually provide a public service
because they I know they're they're a
business but they haven't like they have
a responsibility to the public as well
because at the end of the day the state
and the taxpayer come to their rescue
when they were needed yeah and I think
it's it's outrageous
and different Governors and whatnot uh
before I rock this committees it won't
make a blind bit of difference though
will it do what they want I know that
lots of people including myself would
have been hoping that the minister for
uh Finance would have been able to
intervene in something like this but
sadly the Department of Finance have
issued a statement this morning says
that he cannot interfere with their
operations or strategic moves like this
and it is really disappointing really
disappointing well I'll tell you what
the minister can do because he was quick
enough uh to make sure that salaries
were capped after we spent two and a 22
and a half billion euros bailing out the
likes of aib and of course the others so
we own it well enough for him to cap
salaries but not enough that he can
actually direct that some operations are
preserved and bear in mind we still owe
over 60 of this bank as a taxpayer and
so I do think it is a little cherlish
not to intervene and by the way aib
didn't even put up a spokes for the
media around this morning so they're
just going to let this storm roll over
the consumer's point of view isn't it
Sinead is that they can act that way
with impunity because what option do we
have correct and if there's nobody
willing to kind of step in and say uh I
mean Pascal Donahue is the key
shareholder of this bank and remains so
so you know imagine a private business
where one shareholder owned two-thirds
of the business and they said look we
couldn't possibly step in and have a
word with them and tell them what to
like that's Auto in errant nonsense uh
of course they can bring pressure to
Bear they the entire uh various eruptus
committees got together and and called
for the heads of insurance companies uh
to late too late too little to deal with
motor insurance to do a price walking
um Central Bank regularly holds in the
heads of banks so you know I do think
there is a role here for for government
Tom yeah moreover there's there's an
issue that the the Minister of Finance
has done a banking review uh he's just
recently had a forum he's brought all
the stakeholders together the issue of
older people being left out was really a
concern that came out of that so me on
one hand he's he's having these
conversations there's been a public
consultation many people have written in
and aib has jumped the gun by by making
this move towards the the everything
being cashless so there is a role for
the state days to shape a banking system
and the post offices and the credit
unions will have a role they'll work for
some people but that's not a complete
banking service so it's entirely within
the power of the both the central
Bankers regulator and the minister for
finance to put shape on our banking
system we're down to just three Banks
where aib go the other banks will follow
absolutely absolutely and it's it's
we're now you know it's not far off half
their branches have gone cashless so you
know how where how far does this go
before you know you just can't get
access to cash without paying fees every
time you want to take out your money