AIB informed staff yesterday that it plans to outsource its payments clearing department in Dublin to a company called BancTec, ending speculation dating back to September.

Some 90 staff are in line to transfer to BancTec from March 1st and will operate from AIB’s office in Adelaide Road for at least a year before moving to another site.

AIB said yesterday that BancTec, a business process outsourcing group based in Texas, would take on the management of the existing clearing infrastructure and provide support services across the bank.

Explaining this decision, AIB said it has “previously indicated that as part of its restructuring plan to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, outsourcing of certain functions would be considered” in consultation with affected staff.

Consultation period
A 30-day consultation period between AIB, BancTec and the Irish Bank Officials Association will begin on January 6th.

Commenting on AIB's decision, Larry Broderick, general secretary of the IBOA, said: "We already have concerns about the lack of options for redeployment for staff who prefer to remain in AIB given the specialist nature of the work involved in clearing and, of course, the limited legal protections available under the transfer of undertakings legislation for those staff who transfer to BancTec. Satisfactory resolution of these key issues will be a priority for us in the talks process in January."

Mr Broderick said the IBOA would raise concerns with the Central Bank about the potential implications of the “growing trend towards outsourcing” in the financial services sector.

This is the fourth significant outsourcing agreement put in place by AIB in the past 12 months. In May, it transferred 73 of its back-office staff to services company HCL. Its learning and development unit, which handles staff training, was outsourced to Accenture in October, while IT functions were outsourced in November.

It is understood that the options of early retirement or redundancy might not be available to the affected staff.

AIB declined to comment on this matter last night.