When the Irish banking crisis began – many of the 500,000 people in the UK with savings in the UK Post Office were probably getting worried about the safety of their deposits.
This is because the savings accounts offered by the Post Office in the UK are operated by The Bank of Ireland .
At the end of June 2016 – according to a Bank of Ireland Report – there was £14 Billion in Post Office Savings accounts operated by Bank of Ireland.
In total – the amount held on deposit in Bank of Ireland’s UK operations was £19.5 Billion (about €22 billion Euro) at the end of 2016.
Probably because of concerns about the situation in Ireland – back in 2010 , Bank of Ireland transferred its main UK banking businesses into a new, wholly owned UK subsidiary of the Group, Bank of Ireland UK.
This means that retail deposits with the Post Office and Bank of Ireland in the UK are now protected under the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
It is interesting to note that the UK Post Office online savings account is currently offering a 0.75% interest rate – BOI Ireland is offering only 0.25% on a 1 year fixed rate account. (Dec 2017)