Bank of Ireland has announced that it will be rolling out a new fleet of state-of-the-art ATMs to all its branches across the island of Ireland, as part of a €60 million investment in a range of branch improvements.
Bank of Ireland has said this is the largest investment in its cash machines in a decade, and new ATMs will be rolled out to all of its branches between now and 2027, with the majority rolled out in 2025 and 2026.
Bank of Ireland has 182 branches across the island of Ireland, 169 in the Republic and 13 in Northern Ireland.
The new fleet of 664 ATMs will have greater cash processing capacity, and cut energy use by more than half.
The machines can be used for both withdrawals and lodgements, and the majority will ‘recycle’ deposited cash to use for withdrawals.
Of the €60 million, €49 million will go towards the new fleet of ATMs and five years of servicing and maintenance for the machines.
When asked if the investment in ATMs was influenced by the Access to Cash Bill approved by Cabinet last week, which aims to ensure access to cash in communities around the country and regulate ATMs, a Bank of Ireland spokesperson said that the bank “invests in our branches every year” and “had been working on the plan for this new ATM rollout for some time”.
Part of the €60 million investment package will also go towards refurbishing customer areas in 18 branches this year, as well as upgrading staff facilities in at least 15 branches.
‘To blame the lowest paid for challenges in our economy is cheap’
Branches that will see customer areas refurbished this year are: Stillorgan, Terenure, Malahide, Ranelagh, Blackrock, and Coolock in Dublin; Castlecomer in Kilkenny; Birr in Offaly; Scariff in Clare; Bandon and Douglas in Cork; Killarney in Kerry; Lisduggan in Waterford; Falcarragh in Donegal; Gort and Mainguard St Galway in Galway; and Belmullet and Westport in Mayo.
The bank added that further branches will be refurbished in 2025, which will be announced in the future.
Last year, Bank of Ireland invested €11.5 million in enhancing 21 branches in its network.
Susan Russell, chief executive of Bank of Ireland Retail Ireland, said that the €60 million investment will provide modern and efficient ATMs to customers, while also supporting the bank’s ESG goals.
[ Bank of Ireland taps Tesco Bank executive to lead UK divisionOpens in new window ]
“As a full service retail bank, with a presence in communities throughout the island of Ireland, we are committed to continually improving our services and the financial wellbeing of customers. This means reinvesting purposefully in branches, contact centres, technology, ATMs and other infrastructure to ensure our customers have the most modern and efficient banking available,” she said.
In addition to the €60 million investment in branches and ATMs, Bank of Ireland announced that a €36 million project to refurbish and upgrade its College Green buildings will commence this year.
The largest single investment in the landmark Dublin city centre branch in more than 200 years, the project includes improving facilities for customers and staff, a range of repairs, upgrade and restoration works, and improvements to energy efficiency of the complex.
- Sign up for Business push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Our Inside Business podcast is published weekly – Find the latest episode here
