Bye Bye Bank of Scotland

Although banks are generally an easy target for criticism, I'm genuinely saddened to hear of the withdrawal of Bank of Scotland Ireland and Halifax from Ireland, for two primary reasons: -

(1) Bank of Scotland's entry really did shake up the Irish mortgage market. When they arrived here, they undercut Irish banks' mortgage rates across the board and forced the incumbents to compete. The Irish customer won as a result of this competition, through lower repayments.

(2) At a personal level, it's a difficult time for the 740 or so staff who are losing their jobs. This is not a good time to be looking for a new job in banking or financial services and I genuinely wish them well.