Cash transaction limits will hurt elderly people

NO one can doubt the convenience and costs efficiencies brought about by advances in technology. The transition to online banking has, for the most part, benefited customers and businesses alike. However, Bank of Ireland’s decision to further restrict cash withdrawals and lodgements in its branches is an attack on its most vulnerable customers.

These include the elderly, those with low levels of digital literacy and those customers with little or no access to technology, who cannot or do not engage in online banking.

Bank of Ireland, which has more than one million personal customers, has made a unilateral decision not to allow customers to withdraw cash with a teller’s help unless the transaction exceeds €700 and will not permit a cash lodgement at the counter unless it is more than €3,000. These are significant sums for the vast majority of customers, many with legitimate security concerns, especially around the use of ATMs. Bank of Ireland, which received a lifeline from taxpayers in the wake of the financial crisis, has, in the name of costs savings, turned on its loyal customer base. But could the move ultimately cost the bank? The deeper retreat into a world where customers have little or no personal engagement with banking staff is anathema to the principle of personal banking.

Bank of Ireland, which owes its very existence to the taxpayer, is morally obliged to meet the needs of all of its customers, who are entitled to expect adequate levels of personal engagement in their banking affairs.