Fianna Fáil MEP for Ireland South Billy Kelleher has said that the latest Bank of Ireland tech crash is yet another example of the lack of investment in ICT and Customer Service by Irish banks.
Kelleher, a member of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) Committee, which deals with banking issues, was commenting after Bank of Ireland confirmed that their apps crashed and some customers were able to withdraw cash they didn’t have in their account via a different Revolut account.
“What is abundantly clear is that Irish banks have not invested in ICT and customer focused IT solutions. For example, we are still without instant transfers between Irish bank accounts meaning Irish customers must rely on non-Irish banking services such as Revolut.
“Our banks are making massive profits. While I have called for a windfall tax on these profits, the banks should also be heavily investing in their customer service systems to catch up with the services being provided by non-Irish banks
“The Irish banking sector is taking Irish customers for granted. They have a near monopoly with little or no hope of another big, high street bank moving into the Irish market.
“The Central Bank needs to up its game and start actively protecting Irish consumers in this sort of climate. There must be an investigation into the Bank of Ireland debacle yesterday because ultimately Irish bank account holders could not access their accounts or their money. This is not acceptable in 2023,” concluded Kelleher.