Top List of Banks in Ireland

The banking sector in Ireland has its roots way back in the late eighteenth century. There were only a few banks in Ireland, and all of them were privately owned. The first Bank to be established as the Bank of Ireland was set up in 1783. After this, many other banks were established in Ireland, and today we have several banks with a wide range of services for the people. Whether you're looking for a new bank or want to keep an eye on your current one, we've got you covered. We've analyzed the top banks in Ireland based on the most common reasons people switch banks. Here is a list of top banks in Ireland:

Allied Irish Bank 

Allied Irish Bank is a commercial bank operating in Ireland and the United Kingdom. It is one of the so-called Big Four commercial banks in Ireland. AIB offers a full range of personal and corporate banking services. AIB Capital Markets is the company's division that offers international banking and treasury operations. The Bank also provides a range of general insurance products such as home, travel, and health insurance. It provides life assurance and pensions through its tied agency with Irish Life Assurance plc. AIB's head office has been based at Bank center, Ballsbridge in Dublin 4 since 2008 and it has got a total of 200 branches. The Bank is estimated to have had total assets worth 110,41 bln EUR in 2020 and had 10,500 employees as of 2017.

Bank of Ireland Group plc

Bank of Ireland Group plc is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. 

The principal activity of Bank of Ireland Group is the provision of financial services to personal, business, and corporate customers through its principal subsidiaries. In 2020 its total assets were 134(€bn), and as of 2018, the Bank had 11,086 employees across its 250 branches.

It also provides a full range of banking services to retail, business, and corporate customers. Services include commercial lending and deposits, retail lending, treasury services, offshore banking, funds administration and management, pension fund management, and life assurance.

Ulster Bank

Ulster Bank is a large commercial bank and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. The Ulster Bank Group is subdivided into two separate legal entities, Ulster Bank Limited (UBL) and Ulster Bank Ireland DAC (UBIDAC). Established in 1836, the Westminster Bank acquired Ulster Bank in 1917. It has 146 branches in the Republic of Ireland and 90 in Northern Ireland, with over 3,250 employees as of 2013. In 2020 its total assets were 26.6 million euros. Ulster Bank offers a range of personal banking services, including current accounts, loans, mortgages, and credit cards.

CitiBank

Citi had had a presence in Ireland since 1965 when Citibank International plc opened its first branch in Dublin. The Bank now employs over 3,965 people across several business lines in Dublin, Wexford, and Cork. Citi is the leading global Bank with approximately 200 million customer accounts and more than 160 countries and jurisdictions worldwide. As of 2019, their total assets had increased to $74.7 billion. 

Services offered by Citibank Europe include consumer banking, corporate banking, investment banking, wealth management, investment management, and private equity. Their consumer banking business provides services to clients, including current accounts, savings accounts, mortgages, and personal loans.

Danske Bank

Danske Bank is a full-service commercial bank offering a wide range of products and services to businesses, institutions, and private customers. The Bank has around 22,376 employees in 17 countries and about 250 branches. As of 2020, its total assets were worth $629,534 (Millions of US $).The Bank's corporate structure is simple and consists of four business areas:

Personal Banking; banking for private customers, including residential mortgages, savings & investments, lending, current accounts, credit cards, and more.

Business Banking; providing specialist banking services for corporates, small & medium-sized businesses, agribusinesses, and institutional customers.

Corporate & Investment Bank; international financial products and solutions for large corporate customers.

Wealth Management; professional investment management solutions available to private individuals, charities, and not-for-profit organizations.

KBC Bank Ireland

KBC Bank Ireland is an Irish subsidiary of KBC Bank, a Belgian universal multi-channel bank founded in 1898. The Bank is headquartered on Harcourt Street, Dublin, and has branches in Cork, Galway, and Limerick. In 2016 total assets were €15 billion with a loan book of €10 billion and deposits of €5 billion. The Bank also had a total of 10000 employees as of 2016. The Irish Bank offers a full range of personal and business banking services in Ireland. The Bank provides retail banking, corporate banking, wealth management, and private banking services. KBC also offers insurance services through its subsidiary KBC Insurance Ltd which it owns 50% of, with the other 50% owned by Ageas.

EBS d.a.c

EBS d.a.c., trading as EBS, is a financial institution with headquarters in Dublin and a subsidiary of AIB Group (UK) p.l.c.

It is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and was established in 1935 as the Educational Building Society to provide mortgage finance for teachers within Ireland.

The company offers mortgage finance and a range of savings products directly to consumers, through its branches, and over the internet; it also provides business banking services including lending and deposit-taking to small businesses through its business arm, EBS Business Finance Ltd. EBS has 70 branches around Ireland and 330 employees. The company also had an average of  11 668,00 mln EUR total assets as of July 2020.

DEPFA Bank plc

DEPFA Bank plc is an Irish bank. It was founded as a specialized bank for public sector financing in Germany in 1890. The Bank provides medium-term funding for public and private projects in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and North Africa. DEPFA is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and the European Central Bank in Ireland. DEPFA focuses on public sector financing and public-private partnerships (PPPs). As of December 2020, the Bank employed 91 people at its headquarters in Dublin. The Bank's total assets are reported to be €2.5 billion as of December 2020.

Bank of Montreal Ireland PLC

Bank of Montreal Ireland PLC is a bank and a subsidiary of Bank of Montreal (BMO), founded in 1817, based in Canada. Bank of Montreal Ireland PLC offers financial services in commercial banking and treasury. The following services are available: Deposit-taking and money market facilities in all major currencies; foreign exchange services, including spot, forward, swap, option, and non-deliverable forwards; fixed income securities trading; and Interest rate derivatives. The Bank had a total of € 655.4 million net assets and 47,000 employees across its branches, offering services to over 12 million customers.

Permanent TSB Group

Permanent TSB Group Holdings plc (formerly Irish Life & Permanent plc) is a financial services provider in Ireland. It was formed by the Irish Life Assurance plc merger and Permanent TSB in July 2011. 

Permanent TSB provides a range of financial products, services, and advice to personal and business customers through its retail banking, insurance, and asset management businesses. The company has more than 70 retail branches throughout the country and an online banking operation. As of 31/12/2020, the Bank had net assets of 1,951.00 billion, and it also had a total of 2,286 employees serving its customers.

FAQs

Q. How do I open a bank account in Ireland?

A. To open a bank account, you usually need two forms of ID (one for photo ID, such as a passport or driver's license, and one for proof of address). However, the exact requirements vary from Bank to Bank, so it's best to contact the bank directly for more information on the documents they need to see.