Enlarge imageBy Peter Griffiths
LONDON (Reuters) - Ireland's unlimited guarantee for bank deposits and savings has not sparked a stampede of British savers switching to Irish accounts, banks and industry bodies said on Thursday.
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) said there had been no widescale transfer of money from British to Irish banks, although no precise figures were available.
While Irish banks played down reports they had benefited from an exodus of British savers, the Post Office said it seen a rise in business for accounts it runs jointly with Bank of Ireland.
A Post Office spokesman said it had received more applications to open accounts since Ireland raised its guarantee to 100,000 euros last week before it announced the unlimited move.
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"There has been an upsurge since the initial changes by the Irish government," he added. "From the last announcement (of an unlimited guarantee) it's too soon to give figures."
Savers can take advantage of the Irish guarantee by opening an account with one of the many Irish banks with branches in Britain or with Bristol & West, which is also covered because it is a subsidiary of Bank of Ireland.
A BBA spokesman played down reports of an exodus of anxious savers moving their money over the Irish Sea on fears they could lose out if their bank goes bust during the global financial crisis.
"We have had no hard evidence of that taking place," he said. "There is no reason anybody should move their bank account. The UK's banks are well capitalised."
Irish banks said there had not been a dramatic rise in new customers from Britain, although some had seen a modest increase in business. All were reluctant to disclose specific figures.
A spokesman for Anglo Irish Bank said there was no evidence of a "huge migration" of customers, adding: "We haven't seen any evidence of that across the banking sector here."
A spokeswoman for Irish Life and Permanent Plc, Ireland's third biggest financial company, said: "We've had a positive response, but we're not disclosing any figures."
A Bank of Ireland spokeswoman declined to comment.
In an attempt to reassure bank customers earlier this week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would raise the guarantee for bank savings to 50,000 pounds from 35,000 pounds, but has not said exactly when.
David Kuo, head of personal finance at www.fool.co.uk, a money website, said more people could switch unless Brown follows Dublin's lead.
"We have this unlevel playing field where you have a number of organisations that have unlimited guarantees," he said. "This is putting the big six banks in the UK at a disadvantage.
"If I were a bank customer and had more than 35,000 pounds, it'd stand to reason that I'd want to move all of my money to somewhere that I know it will be 100 percent safe."
(Editing by Steve Addison)
