Closing and opening bank accounts

Sir, – Ulster Bank is exhorting account holders to expedite the closure of their accounts. But is the bank ready itself?

I submitted an account closure form in early October for a small charity account with no standing orders or other complications, asking for the funds to be transferred to a new AIB account. The form said it would take five to seven working days to close it. On October 13th, I got a text message to say that they are experiencing high volumes of requests and would deal with my request as soon as possible. I have heard nothing from them since and meanwhile do not have access to the funds in the account.

Surely they should get their processes in place before they pressurise customers to submit closure applications? I will refrain from talking about my experience in opening a new account with AIB, which started in December last and still has not reached the stage where I have online access! – Yours, etc,

MICHAEL G TUTTY,