Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
487. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Finance if he will intervene to ensure that a bank (details supplied) shares its software with another bank as it takes over the operation of in-store ATMs in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39008/23]
View answerI wish to highlight, as Minister for Finance, I am precluded from intervening in commercial and operational decisions in any particular bank, even one in which the State has a shareholding. Decisions in this regard, including a bank's policy in relation to ATM machines, are the sole responsibility of the board and management of the banks, which must be run on an independent and commercial basis. This independence is protected by a Relationship Framework which is a legally binding document that cannot be changed unilaterally. This framework, which is publicly available, was insisted upon by the European Commission to protect competition in the Irish market.
Notwithstanding the above, officials in my Department reached out to the bank in question who provided the below response:
"There are a number of ATM operators including Retail Banks and Independent ATM deployers (IADs). Each bank/IAD provides their own software to support their network of ATM’s. AIB customers are unable to retrieve their balance from any non-AIB owned ATMs. Customers can view their account balance through AIB Mobile, Internet or Phone Banking, in any AIB Branch or through any of our AIB owned ATMs."
