Ulster Bank

Ulster Bank was founded as The Ulster Banking Company in Belfast, Ulster, in 1836, by a breakaway faction of shareholders in the newly formed National Bank of Ireland, which had been founded in 1835, who objected to the latter bank’s plan to invest profits from the bank in London rather than in Belfast. Within the next two decades, it opened branches throughout the nine counties of Ulster. It was acquired by the London County and Westminster Bank (later NatWest) in 1917, but retained its separate identity. In February 2021, following an extensive review, NatWest Group confirmed plans to withdraw Ulster Bank from the Republic of Ireland, with a “phased withdrawal” over the “coming years”. The final 63 branches closed on 21 April 2023.