Bank officials criticised over decision to close local branch

Bank officials criticised over decision to close local branch

5 April 2017

FIRST Trust officials have rejected an appeal from local politicians to retain a cash dispensing machine in Downpatrick after its Market Street branch closes at the end of July.

The closure of the Downpatrick branch was discussed with senior First Trust officials last week when they met a Newry, Mourne and Down Council delegation in Newry.

The Market Street branch is one of 15 across the Province closing its doors this summer which will slice in half the current number of First Trust branches as part of what is being described as a “reshaping and investment programme.”

The bank insists it will be working hard to minimise the closure impact on customers and staff, explaining the move is designed to ensure a sustainable future for the bank and address the considerable shift in customer behaviour and their changing needs. 

First Trust said the closures were a “difficult decision” and in a bid to placate angry customers, the bank has agreed a partnership with the Post Office enabling customers to bank in any of its branches.  

Customers who currently bank at the Downpatrick branch will have their accounts transferred to the First Trust branch in Newcastle but a number are unhappy with the decision and have indicated

they are considering closing their accounts and transferring them to other banks in Downpatrick. In addition, First Trust customers believe the bank closure could impact on town centre businesses due to reduced footfall.

Councillor Cadogan Enright, who was a member of the local authority delegation which met with bank officials last week, said while he made the case for the Downpatrick branch to remain open, First Trust insisted it will unfortunately close.

He argued that because a number of banks have closed branches in Ardglass and Crossgar over recent years, there is now a huge “bank free zone south of Killyleagh and Ballynahinch and over as far as Castlewellan.”

Councillor Enright continued:  “Within this huge area, Downpatrick is providing banking services to 14 towns and villages and it is nothing short of astonishing that First Trust would abandon what amounts to a quarter of Co Down. 

“First Trust is treating customers with contempt and I can see people switching to Danske, Ulster or the Bank of Ireland. The reason given for the closure was a 40 per cent in branch activity, but no such drop was recorded in the Downpatrick branch, according to their bank’s own figures.”

Councillor Enright said the council delegation grilled bank executives for over an hour, 

with the only reconsideration given the retention of cash dispensing machine in Warrenpoint where a branch is also closing. He said bank officials rejected requests to retain the current cash machine in Downpatrick when the Market Street branch closes.