On 10 March 2023, or the same day that Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Bank went bankrupt in the USA, KBC Bank permanently closed all its Irish branches with the exception of one branch in the capital.
This closure was reportedly due to KBC wanting to downsize its Irish operations and move out of this market.
There were 11 branches, in Galway, Limerick, Cork, Waterford, Kildare and Dublin, all of which closed permanently at 5pm on Friday 10 March 2023. Only one, in Grand Canal in Dublin, will remain open until 31 August 2023.
The closures will cause 75 people to lose their jobs.
Last month, KBC completed the sale of most of its assets to Bank of Ireland, including €7.8bn in loans and €1.8bn in deposits. This development has already transferred legal ownership of the accounts to Bank of Ireland and has since also completed the transfer of day-to-day services to 150,000 customers.
