Ulster Bank will start freezing customers’ accounts from this Friday, the bank has reminded customers. 

The business is withdrawing from the Irish market and customers have been formally given notice that they must close their accounts. 

“Customers who were told back in April that they had six months to move their accounts will start to see those accounts frozen from the end of the week,” Conor Pope, consumer journalist with the Irish Times, told The Hard Shoulder. 

“Once the accounts are frozen, they will be formally closed 30 days later.”

Mr Pope says anyone whose account faces closure should “not panic” and instead contact Ulster Bank and ask for an extension. 

Anyone with money in a closed account will have the money refunded but they need to be sure that their current address is correct. 

“Once the account is closed, the bank will send you out a cheque for any outstanding net balance but they’ll send it out to the last known address,” Mr Pope said. 

“So, that might be fine for somebody who set up an account and they still live at their current address… [but] a lot of people might find themselves with deposit accounts with addresses that are out of date.” 

WP3MYA Ulsterbank branch in Ashe Street, Tralee, Co Kerry, Ireland

The bank will first of all close those accounts which are used the least frequently but will exclude any account that has received a social protection payment in the past 30 days. 

“This careful and controlled approach means that where a customer is still reliant on the current account, we can and will support them to move to a new banking provider. This will also serve to maintain an orderly process for customers the industry and other key stakeholders,” the bank said in a statement. 

“While we will continue to reach out to customers who are still using their account, unless a customer engages with us to change the date, their account will enter the freezing and closure process on or after their original date.”

Anyone with concerns or questions can contact Ulster Bank on 0818 210 260.

Main image: An ATM at an Ulster Bank branch in Raheny, Dublin.