Supporting customers in their hour of need
FOR businesses around the county that have remained open, many have witnessed a drop off in footfall as people stay at home and observe the government restrictions; with many firms noticing a substantial increase in the use of their online facilities.
This too has been the case for the AIB branch in Sligo, which has remained open to its customers throughout the course of this crisis.
Charlie Kane, branch manager at AIB Sligo supported by his team and Barbara Taylor, Area Head of Retail Banking in the North West, says that AIB has endeavoured to provide its services throughout the course of the pandemic in a variety of different ways.
“We’re nine weeks into the pandemic, we have managed to remain open throughout that time and offer a full service. AIB is deeply embedded in the community here,” Mr Kane told The Sligo Champion.
“In terms of support, we’d have noticed a drop off in footfall in line with the government and HSE advice, but we would have seen many people turning to online banking who may not feel comfortable coming into the branch at the moment. For those that come in, the staff on the floor, they talk to them about the options that are there and how they can do some of their business at home.
Mr Kane continued: “We also have, which is very user friendly and very simple, a lovely user friendly website AIB.ie and it has a link on it for Covid-19. If you follow the link it takes you in to where you can get help on mortgages, personal loans, SME where we have worked with the government on the payment breaks for three months and at the moment all the banks are in talks to push that out for another three months.
“Also, we are open for business for any new mortgages, loans or SME support.”
It has been, and will continue to be, a challenging time financially for people and businesses as they grapple with the economic upheaval that Covid-19 has wreaked on society, but Mr Kane says AIB will do everything they can to help in the crisis.
“The five main banks were talking to An Taoiseach during the week, really about how to get cash flow going and how to support the SME businesses throughout the country, so that’s a work in progress at the moment. For AIB, we’re very much about putting our customers first and supporting them in their hour of need.”