Bank Of Ireland Launches Services Targeted At Intermediaries

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

10 February 2006

The Bank of Ireland has launched a comprehensive new service targeted at accountants, solicitors and mortgage intermediaries, as part of the bank's overall strategy of targeting small- and medium-sized companies.

The new service, which debuted last month, includes practice acquisition funding, tax and pension payment finance, professional fee finance and practice premises loans.

Practice acquisition funding is targeted at professionals who require funding to finance a stake in an existing practice. It can be spread over a term of up to 7 years and includes a 2-year capital moratorium.

Tax/Pension payment finance will enable upfront payment of preliminary tax or lump sum pension payments prior to the tax year-end that will allow the cost to be spread over a term of up to 11 months.

Professional Fee Finance will benefit both professionals and their clients. The professionals will receive early payment for services so they can maximise their cash flow, and the clients will benefit, as they can pay upfront and spread the cost over 6, 9 and 11 months.

Practice Premises loans can be spread over a term of up to 20 years and include a 2 year capital moratorium.

The Bank of Ireland says that it has recruited a "highly experienced" business lending team to spearhead its new strategy to target the SME market.

At present over 40% of all business and property loans are generated through intermediaries, with an average property transaction size of EUR1 million.

Commenting on the new service, Cathal Muckian, Director, Bank of Ireland Business Banking, observed that:

"The development of a strong intermediary channel is a key priority to position us for continued growth in this sector."

"The new team aims to build relationships with intermediaries and to ensure that their requirements and expectations are met and exceeded. We are confident that this dedicated team of experts will ensure that we become the number one lender in this sector."

“To build on this commitment, we are also announcing details of our new proposition for intermediaries. We know, both from research and from our day to day dealings with intermediaries, that relationship and deliverability consistently rank highest in terms of what an intermediary wants when dealing with its bank."

"Our proposition for intermediaries is designed to satisfy on both fronts and we are confident that we will differentiate our offering in the market."

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