NIB plans to capture 10% of market

National Irish Bank (NIB) aims to increase its market share to up to 10 per cent over the next five or six years, its new chief executive indicated yesterday.

Andrew Healy, the first Dublin-based chief executive of NIB in a decade, said he expected new online bank accounts, market-leading mortgages and an enhanced customer-focused branch network would spur growth following the bank's acquisition by Danish financial institution Danske Bank.

The bank currently holds just 3 per cent of the personal banking market and 4 per cent of the small business sector.

NIB is investing £100 million (€148 million) in a new integrated technology platform and a relaunch of its brand, keeping the National Irish Bank name but aligning its logo with that of its parent.

Mr Healy said the NIB brand had not suffered as a result of investigations into overcharging and tax evasion scandals at the bank and that it had lost few customers as a result.

The bank now has less than €10 million to repay to affected customers as part of a fee reimbursement scheme announced last July.

The migration to the new technology system is expected to be complete by next Easter, at which time NIB plans to introduce competitive new mortgage and banking products.

The bank's executives met yesterday with mortgage brokers to negotiate the setting up of a pilot scheme in which they would distribute its mortgages.

Up to now, it has only sold its mortgages directly through its branches.

Mr Healy said it was feasible that NIB's performance over the next five or six years would mirror that of similar financial institutions in Sweden and Norway, both of which increased their market share from around 3 per cent to 9-10 per cent following their takeover by Danske in the late 1990s.

"I do feel there is an opportunity to grow and grow rapidly," he said.

"NIB has the ability to be a very credible alternative to the big banks."