Ulster Bank
Encyclopedia
Ulster Bank is a large commercial bank
, one of the Big Four
in both Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland
. The Ulster Bank Group is subdivided into two separate legal entities, Ulster Bank Limited (UBL - registered in Northern Ireland) and Ulster Bank Ireland Limited (UBIL - registered in the Republic of Ireland). The Groups headquarters (and UBIL's) is located in George's Quay, Dublin in the Republic of Ireland whilst the official headquarters of UBL is in Donegall Square East, Belfast
, in Northern Ireland, and it maintains a large sector of the financial services in both the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The Bank is a subsidiary of National Westminster Bank
, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group since 2000. It has 146 branches in the Republic of Ireland and 90 in Northern Ireland with over 1,200 non-charging ATMs. The Group has over 6,000 employees and over 1.9 million Clients.
Bank's logo was three chevrons - identical to that of the National Westminster Bank, its owner. The bank changed to the RBS logo and typeface style in October 2005. The bank is one of the four banks that issue Pound Sterling
banknotes in Northern Ireland.
cards to customers with their current accounts, having previously issued Maestro
(formerly Switch
) and Laser
debit card
s to British and Irish customers respectively, in addition to other financial services. It launched 15 new commitments to its retail customers in September 2010
In common with the other Big Four banks of Northern Ireland, Ulster Bank retains the right to issue its own banknotes. These are pound sterling
notes and equal in value to Bank of England notes
, and should not be confused with banknotes of the former Irish pound
.
Ulster Bank's current notes all share the same design of a view of Belfast harbour flanked by landscape views; the design of the reverse is dominated by the bank's coats-of-arms
. The principal difference between the denominations is their colour and size. Most recent notes incorporate the NatWest chevron, as previously used by the Ulster Bank; however, the most recent issue of the 10 and 20 pound note incorporates their new logo, which is based on that of the Royal Bank of Scotland
In November 2006 Ulster Bank issued its first commemorative banknote - an issue of one million £5 notes commemorating the first anniversary of the death of the former Northern Ireland
and Manchester United footballer, George Best
. This was the first Ulster Bank banknote to incorporate their new logo, similar to the logo of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and the entire issue was taken by collectors within hours of becoming available in bank branches.
Sir Brian Kerr criticised the bank's security measures during the trial.
, Ireland's oldest building society
, for €887 million. In 2009, the First Active branch network and business of several hundred thousand savers and borrowers was merged with Ulster Bank, and the brand name was retired in 2010.
. It was hailed as a "new dawn" for the festival which had been suffering underfunding.
Ulster Bank was the first overall sponsor of The Balmoral Show in 2009, Northern Ireland's largest agricultural show.
Ulster Bank announced official sponsorship of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
in April 2008.
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
, one of the Big Four
Big Four (banks)
Big Four is the colloquial name for the four main banks in several countries, where the banking industry is dominated by just four institutions and where the phrase has gained currency.-Australia:...
in both Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. The Ulster Bank Group is subdivided into two separate legal entities, Ulster Bank Limited (UBL - registered in Northern Ireland) and Ulster Bank Ireland Limited (UBIL - registered in the Republic of Ireland). The Groups headquarters (and UBIL's) is located in George's Quay, Dublin in the Republic of Ireland whilst the official headquarters of UBL is in Donegall Square East, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, in Northern Ireland, and it maintains a large sector of the financial services in both the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The Bank is a subsidiary of National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank Plc, commonly known as NatWest, is the largest retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom and has been part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc since 2000. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is ranked as the second largest bank in the world by assets...
, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group since 2000. It has 146 branches in the Republic of Ireland and 90 in Northern Ireland with over 1,200 non-charging ATMs. The Group has over 6,000 employees and over 1.9 million Clients.
Corporate identity
From 1968 until 2005, UlsterUlster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
Bank's logo was three chevrons - identical to that of the National Westminster Bank, its owner. The bank changed to the RBS logo and typeface style in October 2005. The bank is one of the four banks that issue Pound Sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
banknotes in Northern Ireland.
Banking services
Ulster Bank offers Visa DebitVisa Debit
Visa Debit is a major debit card issued by Visa in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and other nations of the European Union. Prior to October 2004, the debit card was known as Visa Delta. Since June 2009, the major banks in the UK have begun issuing Visa Debit. Barclays, Bank of...
cards to customers with their current accounts, having previously issued Maestro
Maestro (debit card)
Maestro is a multi-national debit card service owned by MasterCard, and was founded in 1990. Maestro cards are obtained from associate banks and can be linked to the card holder's current account, or they can be prepaid cards...
(formerly Switch
Switch (debit card)
Switch is a debit card in the United Kingdom. It is a sister to the Solo debit card.Switch was launched in 1988 by Midland Bank, National Westminster Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland as a multifunction cheque guarantee and cash card. The brand was merged with Maestro, an international debit card...
) and Laser
Laser (debit card)
Laser Card is a debit card scheme in Ireland. The Laser Scheme is maintained and operated by , a not-for-profit body owned by four leading financial institutions in Ireland and overseen since 2008 by the Oversight Unit of the Central Bank. The scheme was launched in 1996 and in 2010 there were...
debit card
Debit card
A debit card is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account/s at a financial institution...
s to British and Irish customers respectively, in addition to other financial services. It launched 15 new commitments to its retail customers in September 2010
Banknotes
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
notes and equal in value to Bank of England notes
Bank of England note issues
The Bank of England, which is now the Central Bank of the United Kingdom, has issued banknotes since 1694. Since 1970, its new series of notes have featured portraits of British historical figures. Of the eight banks authorised to issue banknotes in the UK, only the Bank of England can issue...
, and should not be confused with banknotes of the former Irish pound
Irish pound
The Irish pound was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the usual notation was the prefix £...
.
Ulster Bank's current notes all share the same design of a view of Belfast harbour flanked by landscape views; the design of the reverse is dominated by the bank's coats-of-arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
. The principal difference between the denominations is their colour and size. Most recent notes incorporate the NatWest chevron, as previously used by the Ulster Bank; however, the most recent issue of the 10 and 20 pound note incorporates their new logo, which is based on that of the Royal Bank of Scotland
- 5 pound note, greyGreyGrey or gray is an achromatic or neutral color.Complementary colors are defined to mix to grey, either additively or subtractively, and many color models place complements opposite each other in a color wheel. To produce grey in RGB displays, the R, G, and B primary light sources are combined in...
- 10 pound note, blueBlueBlue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
-greenGreenGreen is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered... - 20 pound note, purplePurplePurple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....
- 50 pound note, blueBlueBlue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
In November 2006 Ulster Bank issued its first commemorative banknote - an issue of one million £5 notes commemorating the first anniversary of the death of the former Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
and Manchester United footballer, George Best
George Best
George Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...
. This was the first Ulster Bank banknote to incorporate their new logo, similar to the logo of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and the entire issue was taken by collectors within hours of becoming available in bank branches.
History
Note destruction
In 2002 three Ulster Bank employees were arrested on charges of theft and money laundering. The three were responsible for the destruction of old banknotes at the bank's former Waring Street cash centre. Between November 2001 and February 2002 they were accused of stealing approximately £900,000 of used banknotes designated for disposal. The money was then placed in various bank and building society accounts. On 23 January 2004 the men were jailed for two and a half years for the theft of £770,000. Lord Chief JusticeLord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is the head of the judiciary in Northern Ireland, presiding over the Courts of Northern Ireland. The present Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is Sir Declan Morgan...
Sir Brian Kerr criticised the bank's security measures during the trial.
First Active
In 2003/2004, Ulster Bank Group purchased First ActiveFirst Active
First Active was an Irish bank, and former building society which was merged in to Ulster Bank in late 2009, ceasing trading in February 2010. It traditionally offered a range of mortgages, savings, investment, pension and life assurance products, but from 2007 onwards, also offered credit...
, Ireland's oldest building society
Building society
A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially mortgage lending. These institutions are found in the United Kingdom and several other countries.The term "building society"...
, for €887 million. In 2009, the First Active branch network and business of several hundred thousand savers and borrowers was merged with Ulster Bank, and the brand name was retired in 2010.
Sponsorship
On 8 February 2008, Ulster Bank Group Chief Executive, Cormac McCarthy, announced a three-year sponsorship deal worth over £1m for the Belfast Festival at Queen'sBelfast Festival at Queen's
The Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen's is an annual arts festival held in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The 49th Festival will take place from 14 to 31 October 2011.-History:...
. It was hailed as a "new dawn" for the festival which had been suffering underfunding.
Ulster Bank was the first overall sponsor of The Balmoral Show in 2009, Northern Ireland's largest agricultural show.
Ulster Bank announced official sponsorship of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn...
in April 2008.
Structured Products
Ulster Bank is used by RBS to deposit funds invested through the popular Royal Deposit Plan; one of RBS current structured investments.External links
- Ulster Bank Group
- Ulster Bank Limited Registered in Northern Ireland, No. R733
- Ulster Bank Ireland Limited Registered in the Republic of Ireland, No. 25766