Two of the country’s main banks said that making things simpler for smaller groups to open accounts is not something that is within their gift. Meanwhile, the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht said it had not had any complaints about difficulties, while Pobal said it didn’t know of any issues around opening accounts.
A spokesperson for AIB said that it must comply with all regulations, while it said it does try to provide assistance.
“AIB welcomes applications for accounts from Unincorporated Entities such as associations, societies, clubs and charities. As is the case for all financial institutions, AIB is required to comply with all legal and regulatory requirements when it comes to the onboarding of new customers. Applications are considered on a case by case basis and anyone with any queries or who requires additional help with their application can call into any of AIB’s 170 branches.”
It was a fairly similar story from Bank of Ireland.
“All banks are subject to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CFT) regulations in Ireland, mandated by the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
“This includes ‘Know your customer’ (KYC) obligations for the financial services industry which require banks to collect and maintain identification documentation on all account holders. These requirements are in place to make it harder for the financial system to be used to hide the money made from crime, and for individuals or organisations to fund terrorism.
“These requirements also apply when setting up accounts where there are multiple account holders,” it said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht said it had not had any complaints about difficulties regarding the opening of accounts.
“This is not an issue that has been raised with the Department by anyone in the Charitable and Voluntary sector to date.
“Where groups are experiencing difficulties with opening bank accounts, they should contact the Department and we will provide advice. Alternatively, they may wish to direct their query to the Department of Finance, who have responsibility for banking.”
Pobal also said it didn’t know of any issues around opening accounts.
“To date we have not been made aware of any organisations applying for programmes that we administer having trouble opening a bank account.
“However, opening bank account(s) is an operational matter for the individual organisations, and it is not in Pobal’s remit to engage with banks on behalf of volunteer organisations.
“Regarding compliance requirements, Pobal implements the regulations/circulars as issued by government and we continue to work with government departments and organisations to make programme requirements as manageable as possible,” it stated.
“It’s very frustrating”- issues for groups opening bank accounts
