Like its fellow nations on the UK mainland, Northern Ireland is home to a number of banks that have long financial traditions.
While the country’s physical separation from England, Wales and Scotland can sometimes leave it overlooked when it comes to the UK economy, there are more than 1.8 million people who call the nation home, and rely upon its financial institutions to look after their banking needs.
With the Republic of Ireland to the south, there is no shortage of shared history and overlap between the two countries, with banks often operating across both jurisdictions.
Four banks in Northern Ireland are also authorised to issue their own pound sterling bank notes, unlike in England and Wales where that privilege is reserved for the Bank of England.
Here we take a closer look at the most influential banks operating in Northern Ireland today.
Five banks in Northern Ireland
Bank of Ireland
Headquartered in Dublin, the Bank of Ireland is one of the Big Four Irish banks, and has a history dating back to 1783, when its early iteration was established by Royal Charter.
Although primarily focused on operations in the Republic of Ireland – where it is the country’s oldest bank – the lender also serves customers in Northern Ireland, as well as the wider UK, France, Germany, Australia and the US.
In Northern Ireland, the institution has the legal right to print its own sterling banknotes, which are equally valid as those distributed by the Bank of England, despite differentiations in size and colour.
Danske Bank UK
The institution formerly traded as Northern Bank, before changing its name in 2012 to reflect its new ownership by Danske Bank Group, by which it was acquired in 2005.
Belfast-based Danske Bank UK now functions as a standalone unit of its Denmark-based parent company, operating under a UK banking licence.
Its history as Northern Bank can be traced back more than 200 years, and is today one of Northern Ireland’s most prominent retail banks, providing personal and business banking services.
Danske Bank UK is one of the four commercial banks in Northern Ireland authorised to issue its own sterling banknotes, which bear the Danske Bank branding – although some notes with Northern Bank logos remain in circulation.
Allied Irish Bank (GB)
Allied Irish Bank (GB) is a subsidiary of Dublin-based Allied Irish Banks (AIB Group) – which is one of the Big Four commercial banks in the Republic of Ireland.
It is headquartered in Belfast, and operates 16 branches throughout the UK with more than 600 staff employed across all its operations.
Allied Irish Bank (GB) specialises in business banking services for medium and large sized enterprises, and claims its “relationship-driven” approach is fundamental to its success, with more than half of new business coming from existing customer referrals.
It won the Moneyfacts Award for best service from a business bank three years running – in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
First Trust Bank
Like Allied Irish Bank (GB), First Trust Bank is a division of AIB Group, and focuses its activity on commercial banking operations in Northern Ireland, with around 30 branches throughout the country.
Headquartered in Belfast, First Trust provides a range of services to personal and small business customers, including credit cards, loans, travel insurance and mortgages.
It was founded in 1991, when TSB Northern Ireland merged with AIB Group, but can trace its longer history back to the former Belfast Savings Bank which was established in 1816.
First Trust Bank is also one of the four financial institutions permitted to issue its own pound sterling bank notes in Northern Ireland.
Ulster Bank
Ulster Bank is another one of the Republic’s Big Four financial institutions to also have a sizeable presence north of the border.
It is split into separate divisions which operate in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, headquartered in Belfast and Dublin respectively.
The lender, which was founded in 1836 and is today a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland, employs around 6,000 people across these two entities, serving 1.9 million customers across the whole of Ireland via its 174 branches – 64 of which are located in Northern Ireland.
In 2004, the Ulster Bank Group acquired one of Ireland’s leading building societies, First Active, which was later fully merged with the bank in 2009.
Like the other top four banks in Northern Ireland, Ulster Bank is able to issue its own sterling bank notes, and will this year begin supplying a new series of notes printed on polymer, in place of the traditional paper equivalents.
