Table of Contents
Introduction and Abbreviations
-
- Geographical, national and regional definitions
- Conversion factors
- BMRB Target Group Index (TGI) sample sizes
- Abbreviations
Executive Summary
-
- Socio-economic factors promote rise in current accounts
- Disposable income squeezed by interest rate rise
- Electronic transactions continue to increase
- Rapid growth of debit and credit cards continues
- Current accounts with full facilities dominate the market
- Technological advances provide new ways to access current accounts
- Key consumer research findings
- Increase in product development essential for Irish banks
Market Drivers
-
- Number of people in employment continues to grow
-
- Figure 1: Employment and unemployment trends, by gender in RoI and NI, 1999-2004
- Demographic changes
-
- Figure 2: Population trends, by age group, NI and RoI, 1991-2001
- Private consumption growth declining in RoI
-
- Figure 3: Index of consumer expectation in RoI (1996=100), 1996-2003
- Slowdown in the growth of disposable income
-
- Figure 4: Personal disposable income per capita and percentage growth in RoI and NI, 2000-02
- Banking code regulations
- Growing pressure to open a current account
Market Size and Segmentation
-
-
- Figure 5: Number of current accounts in RoI and NI, 1997-2003
- Current account usage continues to rise according to clearing statistics
-
- Figure 6: Volume of paper versus automated clearing items (excluding chaps) in NI, 1997-2001
-
- Figure 7: Value of paper versus automated clearing items (£) (excluding chaps), NI, 1997-2001
- Figure 8: Volume of non-cash transactions in RoI, 1991-99
- Debit and credit cards continue to increase
-
- Figure 9: Number of credit and charge cards in issue in NI, 1995-2001
- Figure 10: Number of credit cards in issue in RoI, 1995-2001
-
- Figure 11: Value of credit card transactions in RoI (€), 1995-2001
- Figure 12: Number of cheque guarantee cards and laser cards issued in RoI, 1995-2001
-
- Figure 13: Number of cheques and laser card transactions in RoI, 1996-2001
- Current accounts offering full facilities are the most popular type of account
-
- Figure 14: Breakdown of the current account market in NI, by type of account, 2003
- Figure 15: Breakdown of the current account market in RoI, by type of account, 2003
-
- Figure 16: Percentage penetration of the overall current account market, according to type, in both NI and RoI, 2003
-
Supply Structure
-
- Major companies
- Abbey National
- Alliance & Leicester
- Allied Irish Bank/First Trust Bank
- Bank of Ireland
- First Active
- Halifax
- National Irish Bank
- Nationwide
- Northern Bank
- Permanent TSB Bank
- Post Office (Girobank)
- Ulster Bank Group
- Woolwich
- Telephone and Internet banks
- Product development
Distribution
-
- Branch banking
-
- Figure 17: Number of branches per 1,000 capita in major European countries, 1999
- ATMs
-
- Figure 18: Number of ATMs provided by the four main home-based banks in NI, 1997-2001
-
- Figure 19: Number of ATMs provided by the five main clearing bank groups in RoI, 1995-2001
- Telephone banking
- Internet banking
- European impact
The Consumer
-
- Three quarters of all adults have a bank account in Ireland
-
- Figure 20: Percentage breakdown, by demographics of all adults 15+ who hold a bank account of some sort in NI and RoI, 2001 and 2003
- Current accounts continue to be the most popular product
-
- Figure 21: Percentage breakdown of those who hold an account, by type, 2001 and 2003
- Profiling the current account customer base
-
- Figure 22: Profile of customer base of current account holders in NI and RoI, 2001 and 2003
- Profile of the current account customer base by type of account
-
- Figure 23: Profile of current account holders with cheque book facilities in person’s own name in NI and RoI, 2001 and 2003
-
- Figure 24: Profile of current account holders with cheque book facilities in joint names in NI and RoI, 2001 and 2003
- Main influences on choice of provider
-
- Figure 25: Main influences on bank/building society choice in NI and RoI, 2001 and 2003
- Main reasons for choosing an account
-
- Figure 26: Top factors which influence people’s decisions to open a current account, UK, 2002
-
- Figure 27: Top factors which influence people’s decisions to open a current account, according to age group, UK, 2002
The Future
-
- Main banks to remain the dominant force
- Current account saturation may increase competition
- Scrapping of quarterly overdraft fees could improve competition
- Introduction of new Banking Code makes switching easier in NI
- The Internet will continue to provide new challenges for the banking industry
- Increasing current account penetration in NI via Universal Banking
Forecast
-
-
- Figure 28: Forecast number of current accounts, NI and RoI, 2003-08
-
Back to top