Bank of Scotland Ireland (BOSI) is rebranding its retail banking business under the Halifax name to take advantage of the British mortgage lender's positive perception among Irish consumers.
Research shows that Irish consumers are already familiar with the brand which runs all-singing all-dancing commercials during peak ITV shows such as Coronation Street.
About 63 per cent of the Irish population watch ITV stations, according to market researchers AGB Nielsen Media. As a result, Irish people already recognise Halifax, one of the biggest retail banking brands in Europe, according to survey of BOSI's customers.
The bank's existing Scottish brand was not an issue with Irish customers, BOSI said.
"I'd expected references from customers about the nationality of the bank but it doesn't seem to matter to them," said Maurice Pratt, the bank's chairman. "The survey found that customers see Halifax as a modern, vibrant, fun, young brand."
HBOS Plc, owner of Bank of Scotland, is known in the UK for using its staff to star in its television adverts. The adverts undoubtedly caught the imagination of HBOS employees, with the bank estimating that more than 5,000 employees auditioned for them during the campaign's six-year run.
The Halifax brand will be applied to the personal banking products BOSI introduced in January, its customer service centre, and the personal current accounts the bank plans to launch next year. All of BOSI's corporate and business banking will continue to operate under the Bank of Scotland (Ireland) brand.
BOSI is in the process of turning the former ESB retail network it acquired into its own retail bank branches. It has opened a third of its planned 46 branches and is on track to win 40,000 new customers by the end of its first year in Irish retail banking, chief executive Mark Duffy said yesterday.
The bank will begin renaming existing and new branches to Halifax in November and expects the change to be complete by January. All current BOSI branches will become Halifax outlets by the end of the year.
"When we decided to get into retail banking here 12 months ago, we decided to play it safe and go with Bank of Scotland (Ireland) as a brand," Mr Duffy said at a press conference, in a colourful room designed to resemble a Halifax branch. "But then we listened to our customers, surveyed them, and they said BOSI is a business brand that doesn't reflect the retail values that are attractive to them."
BOSI is revamping its Irish image and rolling out new outlets and products as it seeks to challenge the country's two biggest banks, Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland, which command a combined 75 per cent of the market.
It aims to reach two out of every three Irish adults with its branch network.
In addition to competing with the two dominant banks in terms of products, BOSI is trying to attract retail customers by staying open for longer. It has outlined plans to keep its branches open until 5pm Monday to Friday and between 9am and noon on Saturdays.
HBOS, which earns more than 85 per cent of its profits in its home market, was attracted to the Irish market by the strong economic growth of recent years and Ireland's young and growing population.
A study conducted by the European Commission found last month that Irish banks are the most profitable in Europe, and have been for many years.
