A total of 297,000 personal current accounts have been opened with Irish banks this year, with an average of 11,000 accounts being opened every week, according to the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).

Account openings have accelerated in recent weeks as Ulster Bank and KBC Bank Ireland customers have started seeking alternative banking services providers in greater numbers, with 71,000 new accounts opening in the four weeks to 8 July.

In the four weeks previous to that period, ending 10 June, some 56,000 accounts were opened, slightly more than the 52,000 in the four weeks to 13 May, and far in excess of the 35,000 opened in the four weeks to 15 April.

The statistics were released after the remaining banks -- AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB -- announced their account opening figures for the first half of the year, with all three lenders seeing account openings more than double year-on-year

A total of 205,000 accounts were opened with AIB between January and June, an increase of 110% from the same period a year prior, while Bank of Ireland confirmed 110,000 new current accounts to date this year.

In Association with

Some 70,000 deposit and current accounts were opened with PTSB in the first six months of 2022, an increase of 130% year-on-year. All banks have put on additional staff to assist with the influx of new customers.

The overall figure of 297,000 for the year to 8 July compares to a total of 222,000 account openings in the year to 10 June. BPFI and the five banks also launched movingaccount.ie to assist customers switching their accounts to a new bank.

The site has information on moving an account, managing direct debits, standing orders, overdrafts and card payments, and assistance for vulnerable customers.

"We are urging all customers to visit our new website movingaccount.ie to fully inform themselves of how the process works and to use the checklist we have created to guide them through the journey,” Brian Hayes, CEO of BPFI, said last month.

(Pic: Getty Images)