NIB closes branches today with advisory centre to open in Athlone next week

National Irish Bank closed its 27 branches around the country today and rebranded as Danske Bank, with a new advisory centre due to open in Athlone next week. Danske Bank Advisory Centres will be open in nine locations next week where customers can meet advisors face-to-face. These will be located in Athlone, Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Letterkenny and across Dublin in the IFSC, Tallaght, Swords and Stillorgan. About 100 staff are leaving under a voluntary redundancy scheme because of the branch closures. Commenting on the reorganisation earlier this year, Jesper Nielsen, Head of Business Development, Personal Banking at National Irish Bank said the Irish banking landscape has changed dramatically in recent years and the traditional branch model is no longer the cornerstone of personal banking. "We have recognised this and are building a new business model which responds to changing customer needs, leverages our market-leading technology and develops a profitable model and sustainable business for the Bank. Over the past two years, we have reduced the cost of running our business by 30%, while at the same time continuing to invest heavily in our technology platform as banking habits change." He said more and more customers want to conduct their banking business by telephone, Smartphone or over the internet as they do for other day-to-day needs.