Allied Irish Bank

 

 

The Allied Irish Bank PLC (LSE: AIBK, NYSE: AIB) is one of the “Big Four” commercial banking and financial services establishments based in Dublin, Ireland. The AIB offers a complete range of personal and corporate banking services. AIB Capital Markets offers international banking and treasury operations as well as stockbroking services through its subsidiary Goodbody Stockbrokers. In addition to banking services, AIB also offers a diverse range of home, travel and health insurance products.[br]

Outside of Ireland, AIB operates in UK as AIB (UK), First Trust Bank in Northern Ireland, and Bank Zachodni (BZ-WBK) in Poland. It also entered the Latvian, Estonian, and Lithuanian markets by acquiring the AmCredit mortgage finance business from the Baltic-American Enterprise Fund.

 

Allied Irish Bank: A Brief History

The Allied Irish Bank was established in 1966 with the merger of three Irish banking institutions:

• The Provincial Bank

• The Royal Bank

• The Munster and Leinster

In the emerging Irish economy of the mid 60s, this merger proved to be decisive. With the global economy changing rapidly, Europe became a hotspot of global finance in the wake of the Cold War and the Vietnam War.

In the 1970s, the first branch in UK came into being, followed by an investment in the US in the 1980s. In 1983, AIB made its first investment in First Maryland Bancorp in the USA. In July 1997, AIB acquired the Dauphin Deposit Corporation which was merged with First Maryland Bancorp to form Allfirst in 1999.

In June 1999, AIB signed an agreement with the Polish State Treasury to acquire 80% shares of Bank Zachodni SA. In June 2001, AIB completed a merger with the two banks and created the Bank Zachodni WBK. In 2003, Allfirst merged with M&T Corporation, with AIB holding a 23.5% stake in it.

AIB Group has revenue of more than €4.6bn and employee strength of more than 24000.[br] 

Allied Irish Bank: Credit Cards

CLICK Visa Credit Card:

• A low APR of 8.5%

• AIB internet banking customers can apply online

Platinum Visa Credit Card:

• 3.9% APR on purchases and balance transfers

• Exclusive rewards and benefits with this card

• AIB internet banking customers can apply online

AIB mc2 Student MasterCard:

• 3.9% introductory APR on purchases for the 1^st year

• Translucent card – first time in Ireland

• Can be applied online through internet banking

Last but not the least, the ‘be’ Visa/MasterCard can be applied for online itself.