KBC Bank Ireland has extended its customer notice period to match Ulster bank’s before leaving the Irish market.
Customers now have 180 days to move their accounts after the regulator said more needed to be done by both banks exiting Ireland to ensure that customers are looked after.
Anyone who still has an account with KBC will receive a letter of notice which will be sent to everyone over the remainder of this year and into early 2023, the bank said in a statement today.
READ MORE: KBC and Ulster Bank customers face ‘chaos’ as staff shortages cause major delays with new accounts
KBC says it will also continue to send reminders to customers ahead of the six-month cut-off point through letters, emails, and SMS messages.
In a statement released today, the bank stated: "It is the bank's intention that the closure of all accounts is managed in a careful and efficient manner keeping customers informed throughout.”
It said that it understands the importance of a current account in the financial lives of its customers and that they “understand that changing banks involves significant time and effort on behalf of customers and it is our intention to support them throughout that process.
It also said it was fully aware of the worry customers have around the volume of people that will be trying to open new current accounts over the coming months and the delays that could be associated with that.
"It is our determination to meet our responsibilities and to minimise to the greatest extent possible, the inconvenience caused to our customers," it stated.
A number of weeks ago, existing banks said they were coping with a shortage of staff due to Covid-19 and that they expected there to be delays with some services like loans and credit cards for new customers.
KBC Bank has about 130,000 current accounts that are either active or have a balance and it estimates that 52,000 of these customers are expected to need to open a new account or move to a new provider.
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