Athlone Chamber of Commerce has said it is pleased with the progress it is making in negotiating with banks over local business concerns.
The chamber entered negotiations with banks in Athlone in recent weeks, in a bid to help its member businesses with issues such as bank charges, credit, loans, and access to cash.
It wrote to all the banks in Athlone urging them to engage directly with the chamber in an effort to work together to restore confidence in the sector, and according to president of Athlone Chamber, Aengus O’Rourke, the response has been encouraging.
“We genuinely received a very positive and immediate response from the banks. Within the space of one week we had met with and received firm undertakings from the senior regional directors of Ulster Bank, AIB, and Bank of Ireland,” said Mr O’Rourke.
“I have been heartened by the practical response to our requests, and we may end up solving a number of individual issues over the coming weeks and months. To be fair to the banks, they were very willing to find solutions immediately to the issues raised and have promised to meet directly with each business concerned.”
Following the meetings, the chamber received a commitment from the three main banks that they will deal directly with members’ concerns on a one-to-one basis. Each bank has appointed a designated senior bank manager to deal with the chamber members referred to them from the chamber office.
“One of the most serious problems that we have established through this process is that the relationship between customer and bank appears to be seriously fractured. So we are hoping that by getting customers back in front of the decision makers in the banks that progress can be made on a one-to-one, business-by-business basis,” said Mr O’Rourke.
“Many customers feel that the bank will not meet them and will not consider their case; now this is no longer the case. We can now guarantee a fair hearing for all members with a senior banking representative. In recent years with centralised lending and centralised communications, many of the local and regional managers have not had the opportunity to develop close relationships with businesses, so the chamber will facilitate the banks in this regard.”
Chamber representatives also recently met with Minister for Trade and Commerce, Billy Kelleher TD, to discuss the serious issues facing businesses in Athlone.
“We were anxious that he would take the experiences of our members back to the Credit Supply Clearing Group in his department, feeding into government policy in this area,” explained Mr O’Rourke.
“The perilous state of commercial lending, despite the government injections of billions of euros into banks, remains a central concern for businesses.”
