Bank of Ireland has signed a deal with University College Cork to become the sole provider of banking services at the college for the 10 years from 2001 to 2011.

The new partnership is due to come into effect from next June.

With Bank of Ireland winning exclusive rights to provide its services in UCC, a number of other banks which have had a presence on the campus for several decades will have to cease operations by the June 2001 deadline.

Bank of Ireland declined to comment on the price it paid to win the rights to provide on-site financial services at the college. But last year, the banking service at University College Dublin, which has an 18,000-strong population, was awarded to AIB for a consideration thought to be £8 million (€10 million) for 10 years. The smaller Cork college has 13,000 students and around 2,000 academic and administrative staff.