Rebound in mortgage lending in final months of 2020
Updated / Friday, 29 Jan 2021
13:54
Business Journalist
The value of mortgage approvals in 2020 exceeded €10 billion, despite a slump in lending in the early months of the pandemic.
This is according to figures for the final quarter of 2020 and the full year from Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland.
A rebound in activity in the final quarter of the year accounted for much of the improvement in performance for the year.
The figures show that a total of 43,151 mortgages were approved in the year to a total value of €10.34 billion.
When it comes to mortgages drawn down, the total for the year was 35,617 with the value exceeding €8.36 billion, representing the lowest level of activity in three years.
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Irish banks want to take on Revolut together but why has the competition watchdog rejected them?
Why has it taken so long for Irish banks to address competition from fresh-faced fintech companies? By Ian Curran Sunday 24 Jan 2021, 6:30 AM Jan 24th 2021, 6:30 AM 76,285 Views 37 Comments
Image: SIPA USA/PA Images
Image: SIPA USA/PA Images
THERE WAS SEEMINGLY good news for Irish consumers last week when it was reported that four Irish retail banks Bank of Ireland, AIB, Permanent TSB and KBC were formally moving ahead with plans to band together to create a payments app, Synch Payments, to rival digital challenger banks.
Competition watchdog halts Irish banks’ ‘Revolut rival’ for now
The notification of plans by AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and KBC to co-develop a new payment app was found to be invalid.
A plan by four of Ireland’s pillar banks to build a Revolut rival has hit a stumbling block with the competition authorities.
The banks had alerted the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to their plans to co-develop a new payments apps, but the competition watchdog has found the notification invalid.
AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and KBC Bank Ireland intend to develop their own inter-bank payments app to rival the likes of Revolut and N26, which have eaten into their market share. A new company called Synch Payments has been established to oversee the development of the joint venture.
Irish banks club together with new digital service to counter Revolut threat Bank of Ireland, AIB, Permanent TSB and the Irish arm of Belgian bank KBC have come together to set up Syntech Payments to launch a digital app
Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 20:40 Updated: Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 20:44
Four of the biggest banks operating in the Irish market are joining forces to launch an instantaneous digital payments app that they hope will help them fend off the threat posed by new payments platforms, such as Revolut.
AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and the Irish arm of Belgian bank KBC have come together to set up Synch Payments, a joint venture company to oversee the project. Ulster Bank, whose future in the Irish market has been cast into doubt recently, is not involved in the project.
Irish consumers finally spurned paper cheques in 2020 as Covid accelerated widespread acceptance of digital payments, according to new data from the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI).