Bank of Ireland to close branches


Truly excellent post, Sunny in response to some very distasteful comments/posts.
 
I don't think anyone disagrees that industry is constantly changing and that new technologies, innovations, demands etc will make redundant old business models and be replaced with the new.
This is a given.

What is not a given is the level of disruption and the speed that that disruption occurs.
For instance, the retail supermarket checkout has been in a state of flux for over a decade, replacing staffed checkouts with automated self-service checkouts. It is has been a slow-burner and the staffed checkouts have remained surprisingly resilient. The disruption to careers, employment etc has been negligible imo, given the emergence of outlets like Lidl, Aldi.

The retail banking sector has been slowly diminishing for a number of years now. However, with Aib cuts, BoI closures and UB withdrawal, the pace of that disruption has quickly ratcheted up. This is the troubling and disturbing part. It's not just the staff who will lose their jobs, but the knock-on disruption to local businesses and communities. It is a sign of a greater malaise in Main St.
Where I live AIB pulled out after the financial crash. A BoI branch remains but now I would imagine that is to close.
The question everyone will have, what will be next to close?
At the end of this pandemic, when the green light to open is given, don't be surprised if there is little impetus for business traders to (re) open.
When the unemployment queues remain stubbornly high, let's hope we don't hear the typical labelling about "the people who never work".
 
Fair enough, we can agree to disagree

One thíng though, the economy is far from full employment now, the full extent of the pandemic will reveal itself in the next decade ( sigh)
 
The voxpops on the radio today featured people in their 60s and 70s claiming that they are "too old" for internet banking. The internet became a mass phenomenon 25 years ago when these people were in their 40s and 50s. Their laziness and lack of curiosity seems to serve them as a badge of honour.
 
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Leper said:
This is what some of us are discussing, the blatant ironic sarcasm of intelligent people with a sort of contempt for people about to lose their jobs. Like they themselves, a confident cocky group, were never ever going to see a poor day.
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Look. This thread will go like so many other threads. It will be closed down. The protected elite will have had their say and they will wait for another thread to come along, then off again.
Are we really talking about "nil" branch banking going forward and a cashless society. I hope not. I still enjoy my visit to my butcher, Natural Bakery and Greengrocer......and maybe a bank where I can still ask a question.
 
I don't think it's been a mass phenomenon 25 years ago, more like 15 years ago, but your point stands; if you can use a smart phone you can use internet banking.

The post offices are taking over the counter service function of the banks. The rural post offices are more secure. The bank is saving money. Nobody is being laid off who doesn't want to go. What's the problem?

The question of technology costing jobs comes up all the time. The one thing that is certain to cost jobs is the failure to adopt new technology and work practices when your competition is doing it.
 
iirc I think the internet only really became ubiquitous \ normalised in the early to mid 00s. Look at when the likes of myspace, bebo, then Facebook started.
Until then except for email it was still a thing for freaks and geeks*. Home computers were big for gaming.

Smart phone apps with their guiding 'wizard' interfaces have certainly simplified things.

I think for people used to receiving small sums of cash in payment though, the jump to using card readers etc as a merchant may be more challenging.

*And as a geek I preferred it that way
 
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odyssey06 said:
iirc I think the internet only really became ubiquitous \ normalised in the early to mid 00s. Look at when the likes of myspace, bebo, then Facebook started.
Until then except for email it was still a thing for freaks and geeks
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Okay, but the point stands; the people who are now 75-85 were 55-60. If you aren't willing to spend 15 minutes learning something new at that age then you are responsible for the consequences.
 

All very valid points.

It the State feels that this group of people need physical banking services in place, they should provide it or pay for an institution to provide it as a PSO. There shouldn't be a reliance on a private bank to do this out of the goodness of their hearts (not saying you're suggesting this).

I'm not even sure internet-savviness is actually that necessary for branchless banking. All most people do is withdraw money and pay bills, you don't really need to go near online banking to do this. ATMs will do withdrawals and tell you your balance - are there still people about saying they're unable to use ATMs?
 
I have older relatives who don't have smartphones. Some (but not all) can use texts on a 'dumb' phone. They all have some basic internet skills. They are able to master some websites if they are determined. For example one plays bridge online. They all have basic computers at home now but some of them used internet in the libraries for years first. They were reluctant to spend money on computers or internet services if they didn't need to.
But most of them aren't comfortable with the internet especially for financial transactions, especially when there are so many warnings about possible scams. In my experience nieces, nephews, sons and daughters get asked to do tasks for them. And that wouldn't be appropriate for banking or confidential matters.
 
To be fair to banks, they can't be expected to run significant loss making business models because some people are not comfortable using digital banking. Having said that, I don't think banks should just ignore older people or people with disabilities either. I know in the UK, before one of the banks closed branches, they invited their elderly customers into the branch and provided tuition on using online banking and online safety. Still won't be enough for people who have no ability or desire to use internet banking. But as has been made clear already, we can't stop progress. And credit unions and post offices should be looking at this as an opportunity.

As an aside, I remember when banks were trying to outdo themselves trying to attract the elderly and their large cash deposits. Now, not only do banks not want them calling into branches as they don't buy anything, they don't even want their money in the first place!
 
Itchy said:
I'm not sure how familiar you are with Bank of Ireland's app!
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Hah, I was speaking generally... I haven't found it buggy but for an app it is sluggish and unresponsive, I use it in self enforced go slow mode.
We've come from client-server apps you had to install on your pc, to browser based access and now back to installed apps.
 
Yea, maybe Bank of Ireland could talk to An Post about helping out in those circumstances... oh, wait...
 
Thirsty said:
Announcements like this, to me, show that senior managers weren't doing their job.
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Surely it's the complete opposite.
By closing the branches and cutting costs they are clearly doing their job?
How often do people actually visit their bank in person?
I probably do about once a year and that's only when some dinosaur gives me a cheque that I have to lodge.
 

I'd imagine small business owners would answer that question differently to someone who needs to lodge the occasional cheque or open a new account.
 
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