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The inside story of how the Belfast Savings Bank led the way to internet banking in Europe
Bryan Johnston, former CEO of TSB Northern Ireland, tells the story behind the bank’s development of the first online real-time banking system in Europe.
The first bank branch in Europe to have a counter terminal linked directly to the bank’s central computer, and to offer an online banking service, was the Ardoyne Branch of the Belfast Savings bank, (later re-named TSB Northern Ireland) in 1970. By 1971, any customer could receive a full banking service at a terminal in any branch. From its creation in early 1971, we had created an instantaneous money transmission network, a facility not available in UK banks until 30 years later.