McDonagh: BoI may reverse negative interest rates if ECB makes first move

Bank of Ireland’s chief executive says it will look to reflect zero or positive interest rate in its pricing

Francesca McDonagh, Chief Executive, Bank of Ireland: said if interest rates increased sufficiently the lender would reconsider its policy of charging negative rates to some customer accounts. Picture: Naoise Culhane

Bank of Ireland could look to reverse the application of negative interest rates to customer accounts if the European Central Bank pushes rates into positive territory this year.

Customers with account balances of more than €1 million are currently being hit with negative rates by the lender in a reflection of the wider interest rate environment.

For almost a decade, the European Central Bank (ECB) has been charging banks who deposit money with it negative ...