Market Talk

Banks need lending volumes to rise for real competition

KBC Bank: can it attract new borrowers by cutting interest rates? PIc: Bloomberg

Banks doing battle over a very small pie

New price war among banks, screamed a newspaper headline last week. Will KBC Bank’s decision last week to slash its interest rates really cause a dramatic change to the Irish mortgage market?

KBC made the commitment to stay in Ireland after years of losses and grow its business here. It was one of the few international banks to stick around after the crash.

To grow ...