Ulster Bank is a large commercial bank, one of the Big Four in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Its main base is in Belfast, in Northern Ireland, and it maintains a large sector of the financial services in both the UK and the Republic of Ireland as well as having operations on the Isle of Man. The bank is a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.
Corporate identity
From 1968 until 2005, Ulster Bank's logo was three chevrons - identical to that of the National Westminster Bank, its owner. Although the NatWest Group, including the Ulster Bank was bought in 2000 by the RBS, there was no change of logos until 24 October 2005, when the Ulster Bank changed its logo and typeface to match the RBS logo. NatWest has not yet followed suit, nor is it expected to. The bank is one of the four banks that issue Pound Sterling banknotes in Northern Ireland.
Banking services
Ulster Bank offers the Maestro (formerly Switch) and Laser debit cards to British and Irish customers respectively, in addition to other financial services. The Group provides financial services throughout Northern Ireland, the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and also includes the First Active bank which has branches in the Republic of Ireland and Guernsey.
Banknotes
In common with the other Big Four banks of Northern Ireland, Ulster Bank retains the right to issue its own banknotes. These are pound sterling notes and equal in value to Bank of England notes, and should not be confused with banknotes of the former Irish pound.
Ulster Bank's current notes all share the same design of a view of Belfast harbour flanked by landscape views; the design of the reverse is dominated by the bank's coats-of-arms. The principal difference between the denominations is their colour and size. Most recent notes incorporate the NatWest chevron, as previously used by the Ulster Bank; however, the most recent issue of the 10 and 20 pound note incorporates their new logo, which is based on that of the Royal Bank of Scotland
The commemorative George Best five-pound note issued by Ulster Bank
In November 2006 Ulster Bank issued its first commemorative banknote - an issue of one million £5 notes commemorating the first anniversary of the death of the former Northern Ireland and Manchester United footballer, George Best. This was the first Ulster Bank banknote to incorporate their new logo, similar to the logo of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and the entire issue was taken by collectors within hours of becoming available in bank branches.
Note destruction
In 2002 three Ulster Bank employees were arrested on charges of theft and money laundering. The three were responsible for the destruction of old banknotes at the bank's former Waring Street cash centre. Between November 2001 and February 2002 they were accused of stealing approximately £900,000 of used banknotes designated for disposal. The money was then placed in various bank and building society accounts.[1] On 23 January 2004 the men were jailed for two and a half years for the theft of £770,000. Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr criticised the bank's security measures during the trial.[2]
On 8 February 2008, Ulster Bank Group Chief Executive, Cormac McCarthy, announced a three-year sponsorship deal worth over £1m for the Belfast Festival at Queen's. It was hailed as a "new dawn" for the festival which had been suffering underfunding[3][4].
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