Nationwide Building Society, Britain's largest building society, is plotting a four-pronged attack to lure deposits from Dublin rivals.

Carl Gandy, managing director of Nationwide International, which includes its operations in Ireland and the Isle of Man, said a board meeting agreed last week to press ahead with the opening of the society's first "information outlet" off St Stephen's Green in Dublin. Other outlets may be opened in Waterford or Cork.

It also plans to launch a new regular savings product for individual savers and will then seek to attract deposits from corporate savers for the first time.

Gandy, who would not disclose the amount of deposits Nationwide has raised in Ireland since it launched ten months ago, said the society had benefited early from the economic crisis as billions of euro in deposits flowed from the Irish banks last spring. Nationwide attracted deposits because the rating agencies rank it as one of the safest lenders. The society, which offers about the third-highest rate for its easy-access saving product, therefore did not need to offer depositors the highest rates to attract savers.

The society said it has detected a growing demand for fixed-rate products.