Ulster Bank and First Active today said they would pass on only half of yesterday’s European Central Bank interest rate cut to variable rate mortgage customers.
Most Irish banks have said they will hand on the savings, which could cut hundreds of euros off yearly repayments, while National Irish Bank said its rates will remain unchanged.
Ulster Bank, and its subsidiary First Active, said interest on its standard variable rate mortgages will come down by just 0.25 per cent — half the savings going to customers of other lenders who have passed on the full 0.5 per cent drop.
Opposition politicians urged all banks to hand on the full cut to help out the tens of thousands of people who have lost their jobs in recent months as well as workers bearing the brunt of the economic crisis.
Fine Gael’s enterprise spokesman Leo Varadkar had said it would be “unconscionable” for any banks to hold on to the interest rate cut.