The move signals an abrupt end of the Christmas generosity that led some financial institutions to hold back part of December's rate hike from mortgage customers in a bid to stop them defecting to cheaper lenders.

"It's pitiful at a time when bank profits are increasing right across the board, " said Dermott Jewell, chief executive of the Consumers' Association.

"It proves yet again that the only time banks react to competition is when they are pushed and forced into it - usually by outsiders."

The rate increases show that banks still have a lot of scope to set their own prices, said David Odlum of NCB Stockbrokers. "It cost the banks a lot when interest rates were on the way down so they're making sure they get the benefit on the way back up, " he said.

Bank of Ireland raised its standard variable mortgage rate to 3.99% on Thursday, passing on the full quarterpoint interest increase introduced by the European Central Bank at the start of the month.

Customers with variablerate personal loans have also been hit with the full quarterpoint increase. But savers will see very little change in the interest earned on their money.

The rate on demand deposits goes from 0.1% to 0.2%, although SSIA savers will do better, getting 2.25% on their money.

AIB has kept its place as one of the cheapest mortgage providers with a standard variable rate of 3.75%, despite passing on the ECB rate rise in full from last Wednesday.

But its savings rates are even worse than Bank of Ireland's, with demand deposits earning 0.075% interest, up from 0.05% before the latest ECB increase was implemented.

AIB's SSIA customers get the same rate of interest as Bank of Ireland pays. All eyes are now on Irish Life & Permanent. It has yet to react to ECB move, al-though financial analysts believe it will may repeat the pattern set before Christmas when it held back some of ECB's previous increases from mortgage customers.

Scott Rankin of Davy Stockbrokers believes it might peg its new standard variable rate at about 3.85%.

This would make it midway between AIB and Bank of Ireland.