An Post to offer new products in tandem with bank

An Post will start offering new savings and investment products through its joint venture with Belgian bank Fortis by June and will create 100 new jobs by the end of the year.

The first fruits of the €112 million joint venture will initially appear at a cross-section of 200 post offices and will be extended across the 1,300-strong post office network over a 12-month period, An Post said yesterday.

The initial savings and investment products will be followed by a broader range of banking products, including internet banking and ATM facilities, in the autumn.

EBS's head of strategic planning Enda Devine has been appointed chief financial officer of the joint venture, which is rumoured to be called Postbank but has yet to be officially named. Mr Devine was previously head of finance at EBS.

Margaret Sweeney, chief executive of the joint venture, said plans for the development of the new retail bank were progressing well. Other senior appointments are also in progress, An Post and Fortis said yesterday.

The level of banking services offered will vary from post office to post office, with the full range of services, including on-site product advisers, available only in a small number of the larger post offices.

The 100 new jobs will bring the number of people employed by the joint venture to 250, with the bulk of the jobs in Dublin and Athlone, which is already the base for An Post's existing personal finance subsidiary, One Direct.

An Post is not putting up any cash for the 50:50 joint venture and is instead contributing One Direct and its bill payment subsidiary PostPoint to the business. These two subsidiaries, valued at €56 million, will remain part of the overall network.

Fortis, an international banking and insurance provider with a market capitalisation of €45 billion, will pay another €56 million to fund the venture.

Thierry Schuman of Fortis, who is chairman of the new venture, said the Irish market was similar to the Belgian market where it has a successful alliance with the Belgian post office.

The joint venture agreement, which is still subject to the granting of a banking licence by the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, was first announced last year.

It was initially expected that the partners would launch its first banking products by the end of 2006, but negotiations took longer than anticipated and were understood to have centred on the ongoing use of the One Direct brand, which will be retained.

The Government gave approval to the joint venture in September 2006.