A LARGE number of people have yet to close their bank accounts in KBC and Ulster Bank despite the planned pull-out of this country of the two institutions.

And the pace of customers closing current and deposit accounts at the two departing banks has slowed down, according to Central Bank figures.

The new data comes a week ahead of Ulster Bank permanently closing its remaining 63 branches across the country.

Some 167,988 current accounts remained open in Ulster Bank and KBC Bank at the end of March, the regulator said.

More than 60,000 of these were deemed by the banks as the primary accounts of the customers. This means the accounts were being used to receive salary payments or pensions and pay out bills such as mortgages or rent.

Just 85pc of current accounts that were open at the beginning of 2022 were either closed or inactive as at the end of March.

This is despite repeatedly warnings from the two banks that those who do not close their accounts who find themselves locked out of them.

Since the start of this month Ulster Bank stopped customers being able to carry out in-branch transactions, other than those related to account closures.

The move is the latest milestone as the bank winds down its operations in Ireland.

The bank’s services through An Post outlets have also ended on the last day of March.

Next Friday Ulster Bank will close permanently all its 63 remaining Ulster Bank branches in the Republic of Ireland in three weeks’ time.

It has already sold 25 branches to Permanent TSB.

For the next week Ulster Bank’s last 63 branches are open but customers are no longer able to make cash or cheque lodgements, either at the counter or through internal automation devices such as cash deposit machines, bulk coin machines and automated deposit units.

At the end of March Ulster Bank began to deactivate its remaining customer credit cards.

Last November the bank began freezing and closing accounts of customers whose notice had expired.

A total of 86,298 current and deposit accounts were closed in Ulster Bank and KBC Bank in four weeks to the end of March.

This is a much slower rate of closures when compared with the four weeks leading up to the end of February.

The total number of accounts closed since the beginning of 2022 at the two banks is now close to one million.

Of these, 513,785 were current accounts, while the remaining 472,238 were deposit accounts.

Nearly 50,000 accounts were opened in the four weeks to the end of March. 

New account openings are down 53pc when compared with the corresponding period to the end of February.

The Central Bank said: “We expect the account opening figures are less related to migrating accounts, and are proportionally more impacted by organic ‘business as usual’ growth.”

In total, 1,156,638 current and deposit accounts were opened across the three remaining retail banks since the beginning 2022.

At the end of March the shutters came down on most KBC branches as the bank winds down its Irish operations ahead of its exit from this market.

There are 11 hubs, or branches, in Galway, Limerick, Cork, Waterford, Kildare and Dublin, that will close at 5pm on Friday, six months after notice was given that were to shut.

Just one, at Grand Canal in Dublin, will remain open until August 31.

The closures will result in 75 people losing their jobs.