Ulster Bank: Encyclopedia II - Ulster Bank - New products and services

Ulster Bank - New products and services

In the event the post-war boom was short-lived and more difficulties lay ahead for Ulster Bank. The troubles attendant upon the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, and related bank boycotts and raids caused problems, but eventually the political settlement of 1925 ushered in a period of greater stability. From the late 1920s Ulster Bank began to develop new products and services and departments. A foreign department was established in 1926, thrift deposit accounts offered to small savers in 1928 and executor and trustee services provided from 1933. However, Ulster Bank’s growth was constrained after 1929 - by the effects of the world depression and the collapse of the Belfast linen and shipbuilding industries - and it was not until the 1950s that its business really took off.

During the Second World War Ulster Bank was again subject to government controls. Many staff enlisted and a number of Belfast branches were extensively damaged during air raids. The bank was also drawn into handling clothing coupons, national savings certificates and transactions for US troops in Belfast. As prosperity replaced austerity in the postwar years, Ulster Bank expanded, pioneering personal loans in Ireland in 1958 and opening Ireland’s first drive-in bank at Finaghy in 1961.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "New products and services", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki