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The Ulster Bank Group, which includes First Active, is the only mortgage lender in the State that will not pass on the full three-quarters of a percentage point cut in interest rates introduced by the European Central Bank yesterday.

Ulster Bank said it would reduce its standard variable rate by just 0.5 per cent from January 1st and said the reason for this was the “increased cost of money being experienced throughout the banking sector”. Holders of a tracker mortgage with Ulster Bank Group or First Active will see a 0.75 per cent fall in their repayments.

As a result the Ulster Bank group, which includes First Active, is the only significant mortgage lender in the State not to pass on the full rate. The group is one of the largest mortgage lenders here with an estimated 20 per cent share of the market.