Privacy Statement

Bank of Ireland Group is committed to keeping your information private. We understand that your privacy and the security of your information are very important to you.

Terms and Conditions

Bank of Ireland Group’s Privacy Statement is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use of your Bank of Ireland Group products and services.

We recommend that you read your Terms and Conditions of Use. If there is a conflict between your Terms and Conditions of Use and this Privacy Statement, your Terms and Conditions of Use shall prevail. Except as otherwise provided, terms used herein and defined in your Terms and Conditions of Use shall have the same meaning that is given to them in the Terms and Conditions of Use.

Information We Collect From Your Use of Our Website

Our aim is to continuously improve your experience of our digital channels. We use cookies to improve your customer experience of our products, service and online applications. Our web server collects information about your visit, for example:

  • number of people who visit the website;
  • date and time of visits;
  • number of pages viewed;
  • amount of time spent on the website;
  • popular sections of the website.

We may also collect information that you provide (where that information does not personally identify you) such as where you enter estimated figures or details into our website for the purpose of making calculations on lending products or for other reasons. Where you do so, we may use this information with Advertising Cookies to represent this information to you and advertising that is relevant to you. We describe more about how our Advertising Cookies work below.

Subject to your device settings and consents, we may also collect information about your device, your location and whether or not you are a user of Bank of Ireland Digital Banking when you use our websites. Ths information does not personally identify you and no attempt is or will be made to identify visitors.

Location Enabled Services

In certain circumstances our location enabled services require your location to function and if you wish to use such features you will be asked to consent to your data being used for this purpose. This consent may be withdrawn at any time.

Personal Information You Provide To Us

Any personal information gathered from you will be managed in line with our Data Privacy Notice which is available here. Our Data Privacy Notice explains how your personal information will be managed and used by us and contains details on your privacy rights.

If you ever decide that you no longer wish us to keep or use information or you want the information to be revised or updated, please feel free to contact us using the contact details in our Data Privacy Notice. We will remove or amend the information as appropriate in accordance with applicable legislative and regulatory requirements.

‘Cookies’

Cookies are small pieces of information, placed on your device by us when you visit a website or use an app belonging to us. Some of these cookies can be recognised by websites when you visit them. This can help keep track of your preferences, and also helps us keep our website and apps secure.

Cookie Types

Necessary Cookies

These allow you to move around and access secure areas of our websites and apps. Without them, we cannot provide the online services you may want. You do not need to give us consent for necessary cookies to be used – they will be set automatically if you use our website or apps. You can find the necessary cookies that we use on each website in our cookies policy which is available below.

Functional Cookies

These allow our websites to remember choices that you have made on previous visits. This could include things like your preferred language, or changes you’ve made to the size of the text on a specific page. They can keep track of your progress when you’re completing online application forms. Functional cookies can also be used to provide services you’ve asked for, like watching a video or using live chat on our website. You can find the ones we use on each website in our cookies policy which is available below.

Performance Cookies

These cookies collect information about how you use our websites. They tell us which pages you go to most often, and whether you get error messages from web pages. All information stored by performance cookies is aggregated and does not personally identify you. You can find the performance cookies we use on each website in our cookies policy which is available below.

Advertising Cookies

Advertising cookies (also called targeting cookies) help us shape our advertising and make it more relevant to you. We and our third party advertising partners use these cookies to understand what you’re interested in on our website, and to identify what other sites may have directed you to us. If you do not allow these cookies, you may experience less targeted advertising.

Our advertising partners can also use these cookies to understand your interests and show you relevant adverts on other websites across the internet, based on the products and services that you have shown an interest in on our websites. You can find the advertising cookies we use in conjunction with our advertising partners in our cookies policy which is available below. These cookies will mean that you may see advertising for our products and services on other websites as a result of the advertising cookies that may be placed on your device.

For more information on ‘Cookies’ we use please click here to read our cookies policy.

Use of Digital Banking and Cookies

Bank of Ireland Digital Banking 365 Online, Mobile and Tablet apps, (which for the purposes of this Privacy Statement also includes Business On Line and any other Bank of Ireland Digital Banking Channel) requires the use of certain functional cookies. If you choose to block cookies, you may not be able to use or access certain of our online or mobile services.

Digital Banking

Use of Information when Logging On to Digital Banking

When you log into Bank of Ireland Digital Banking we will collect information about you and your use of our services. For example we will be able to identify you as a customer, what pages you navigate to and your actions while logged in. This helps us to optimise the service Bank of Ireland provides to you, deliver relevant communications to you and allows you to get the most out of your Bank.

Push Notifications on the Mobile Banking App

Push notifications are messages that mobile apps send to your mobile device to improve your interaction and experience with us. You may receive notifications about services, offers and product information based on your location and your preferences. Upon download or upgrade of the mobile banking app you will be asked for permission to switch on location and notification services. To get the most out of your notifications you can turn on Bluetooth. You can control your push notification, location and Bluetooth and settings directly on your mobile device.

Security of information

We understand how important the security and the confidentiality of your information is to you. Keeping your information secure is a top priority for Bank of Ireland Group. Our goal is to protect your information on the Internet in the same way as we would over the phone, in a branch or at an ATM. Even so, Bank of Ireland Group cannot guarantee the privacy or confidentiality of information relating to you passing over the Internet.

By using any of the services/information available on or via our websites or apps, you accept and are deemed to accept that electronic mail messaging and Internet communication may not be free from interference by third parties and may not remain confidential. The use by you of our websites or apps is at your sole risk.

How you can protect yourself:

  • Never reveal your password to anyone
  • Never give your PIN or login details to anyone who calls you or in an email or by text message
  • Never login to any Digital Banking channel through a link in an email
  • Only download Bank of Ireland Apps from official sources (i.e. Apple App Store and Google Play)
  • Lock your phone or tablet when inactive
  • Monitor your accounts, credit card and your list of online payees on a regular basis to ensure everything is in order. One of the best ways to detect fraudulent activity quickly is by examining your account activity regularly. Check for suspicious money transfers, payments or unauthorised access.

If you do find anything suspicious, report it. 365 online displays your last login and last payee added details, check this is correct. Always logout of 365 online, Bank of Ireland Mobile and Tablet app, Business On Line or any Bank of Ireland Digital Banking Channel.

Learn more about what you can do to protect yourself online.

Fraud

A number of banking organisations and their customers has been the target of hoax e-mails that are aimed at gathering Internet/account details of the customers. Some of these hoax e-mails have encouraged or facilitated contact with hoax websites that purport to be (but are not) the website of the relevant banking organisation. The Bank of Ireland Banking Apps will only ever be available to download from the Apple App Store or Google Play. However, always be cautious of disclosing your personal details.

We only request your personal details if you initiate e-mail contact with us, or you initiate a request for a particular service online and we require personal details to provide you with the requested service e.g. a loan or credit card application or other product information.

Hyperlinks

Some of the pages on our websites and/or Digital Banking Channels may contain hypertext links to websites not maintained by Bank of Ireland Group. You are reminded that different terms and conditions of use will apply as a user of such websites. In addition, such websites may not attain the same privacy standards that Bank of Ireland Group maintains.

Disclaimer

No member of the Bank of Ireland Group or any of its agents or employees accepts any liability for any loss or damage of any nature, including but not limited to loss of profits, goodwill, or any other type of financial or other pecuniary or direct or special indirect or consequential loss howsoever arising whether in negligence or for breach of contract or other duty, arising out of or in relation to the use and/or dissemination of personal information relating to you where such use and/or dissemination of information is done in accordance with this Privacy Statement and the Terms and Conditions of Use (in the event of conflict the Terms and Conditions of Use shall prevail).

Updates

The contents of this Privacy Statement may change without notice from time to time. This Privacy Statement was last updated on 18 November 2020.