Stamp of approval for Bank of Ireland's Post Office tie-up

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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BANK of Ireland is benefiting from the economic recovery through its tie-up with the United Kingdom’s Post Office which has helped the Irish Republic’s lender to slash losses.

The bank, which was Ireland’s only major bank to avoid nationalisation, said that its alliance with the PO, which has three million customers, processed more than £1billion in mortgage applications, nearly half of which were from first-time buyers.

It is increasing the range of financial service products it offers through the PO, including plans for current accounts and an increase in the postal retailer’s 2,000-strong ATM network.

Chief executive Richie Boucher said: “These investments leave the partnership well-positioned to grow its share of financial services in 2014 and beyond.”

Bank of Ireland slashed underlying pre-tax losses to £468.5million in 2013, from £1.2billion a year earlier, while operating profit jumped four-fold to just above £823million.

Its UK retail arm, which markets home loans under the PO and Bank of Ireland brands, made losses of £129million against £301million of losses a year ago.

Boucher said the outlook for both the Irish and UK economies looked brighter. With Ireland out of its EU and IMF bailout period and expecting economic growth of two per cent this year, the bank believes it is well-set to cash in on a better business climate.

He said: “We’ve made very substantial progress. We’re now in profit and generating capital. From here, it’s about taking the opportunities.

“We think economies are going to improve. We’re hungry to generate revenue, we’re hungry to lend so we’re looking forward to things with more confidence.”

[subbie]

At least we Subbies can enjoy the warm feeling that we have done our bit to bail out this foreign bank, as we get our notice to quit letters from the Post Office, I'm sure the Bank of Ireland will sell even more of their products from the check out of a corner shop, which is to be the Post Office Branch of the future.

"Do you want a mortgage with those Baked beans dear, buy one get one free this month?"

subbie