The Irish Banking Culture Board (IBCB) has said that further work is required by Ireland's retail banks to restore public trust in the sector.
Writing in the industry initiative's annual report, IBCB chair Mr Justice John Hedigan said that "continued positive behaviour" from Ireland's banks needed to be "both visible and felt by bank customers" in the years ahead.
The board was established by the banking sector in 2019 to help lenders regain public trust following the damage done by the financial crisis, the tracker mortgage scandal and other events that have tarnished their reputations.
Some 27% of adults in Ireland said they have low levels of trust in banks, according to a recent survey by Peopl Insurance, and it is unlikely to have improved following AIB's scrapped decision to withdraw cash services from 70 branches and the impending exits of Ulster Bank and KBC Bank Ireland.
"The IBCB knows that our member banks are working hard to address the trust deficit and have undertaken several positive initiatives that show a commitment to improving the culture of the sector," Hedigan wrote in his foreward to the report.
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"A focus on customer outcomes will need to be sustained for an extended period before there is significant tangible evidence of improvement in the public’s trust in banking."
Hedigan added, however, that there needed to be more "balanced discourse" around the industry, which he said had changed significantly in recent years and which is integral to Ireland's economic success.
During recent difficult times, bank staff have worked together to increase contactless payment limits, maintain the payment systems, organise payment breaks for a vast number of customers, and keep branches running," he said.
"Bank staff have every reason to be proud of the manner in which they demonstrate this customer focus," he added in reference to an IBCB survey that showed bank staff have lower levels of organisational pride than their counterparts in other sectors.
Just 57% of bank staff take pride in working for their employer, 16 points lower than the average for the financial services sector, which IBCB CEO Marion Kelly said was a concern as the future success of banks is dependent on staff.
"To ensure that customers’ needs are well served, it is vital that the industry can attract and retain talent, both now and in the future," said Kelly.
"Understanding and addressing the issues that are impacting bank staff’s sense of pride in their roles and organisations is therefore essential.
"We have been conducting further research and analysis on this topic over the course of this year and have published a report on this important topic in September 2022."
Kelly went on to say that the imminent Ulster Bank and KBC exits had resulted in upheaval for thousands of customers, and that public trust levels remain very low, especially in the farming community.
"There have been small improvements in trust levels with other customer cohorts such as SMEs but there remains a significant mountain to climb in the restoration of trust in an industry which is essential to us all," she continued.
"Identifying actions to address these findings will be a key area of focus for the IBCB in the year ahead."
IBCB's 2021 public trust in banking survey found 49% of SMEs with annual turnover of €2m or more said their view of the banking sector had improved since 2008, dropping to 32% among SMEs with less than €2m in turnover.
Some 43% of respondents said their perception of banks had worsened since 2008, dropping to 18% among those aged 45+ and rising to 32% among younger adults (18-34).
IBCB's public trust in bank survey this year concluded that there is no fast fix available to reverse the "widespread and deeply embedded negative perceptions of banks, but that trust levels are improving slowly, and that public acknowledgment of reform would be based on the lived experience of people's dealings with banks.
(Pic: Getty Images)
