AIB is to appoint Brexit advisors all around the country as it advised customers not to become complacent about its impact on industry,
.At the monthly Cork Chamber of Commerce business breakfast, AIB‘s managing director of retail and corporate banking Robert Mulhall warned Brexit was a “once in a generation” event that would have an impact on Irish business decisions for decades to come.
Brexit advisors would be appointed to 19 of its local markets, including one each for Cork city and county, he added.
“I am sure many of you are already fatigued by this topic, but we can’t afford to be. We are in the process of training 19 Brexit advisors who will operate in each of our 19 local markets. We must be able to have real conversations about the risks that Brexit brings to export businesses and together identify the necessary actions to mitigate these risks,” he said.
He said planning the biggest challenge of all was uncertainty.
“Given the protracted nature of the negotiation process that lies ahead, the ability for businesses to plan and forecast to an outcome is very limited,” he said.
Of AIB’s personal loan applications, 76% are now done through digital channels and 95% of customer transactions are automated. At least 43% of the 500,000 banking transactions conducted daily are outside of normal banking hours, and are executed online or on mobile, Mr Mulhall said.
“Mobile technology is driving a pace we have never seen before. It took us just 18 months to have the same number of people actively using mobile banking as we managed to achieve on the online banking channel over 10 years,” he added.
The monthly meeting also heard Cork Chamber president Barrie O’Connell call for more funding for the stalled 6,000-seat event centre, which remains behind schedule because BAM and Live Nation say an extra €12m is needed to make it commercially viable.
Mr O’Connell said everyone wanted to see the event centre progress because it was in Cork’s interest.