Ballygawley bank to close in October

DANSKE Bank has announced that its branch in Ballygawley is to close after a 30 per-cent drop in over-the-counter transactions during the last four years.

On Friday the bank revealed that four of its branches across the North, including Ballygawley, would be shutting their doors for the last time on October 22.

Announcing the closures, Aisling Press, Danske Bank’s Managing Director of Personal Banking, said, “In the last number of years, the way customers use branches has changed considerably. Now, many are choosing to use alternative ways of banking with us, such as our online banking, app or banking on the telephone.”

An impact closure assessment published in relation to the Ballygawley branch noted a 29 per-cent fall in transactions between January 2017 and May 2021.

Ms Press added, “As a prudent business, we also need to make difficult decisions to close certain branches that are being used less and are no longer sustainable. We do not make these decisions lightly.”

The announcement about the Ballygawley bank came just a day after the Dungannon branch of the Bank of Ireland closed, with existing customer accounts now being administered from Bank of Ireland’s Magherafelt branch, just over 20 miles away.