03/12/2013

Further Technical Glitches For RBS

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has said it will compensate those left "out of pocket" after a glitch meant many of its customers were left unable to pay for purchases.

Customers of RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank discovered services, such as online and card payments, were unavailable between 6.30pm and 9.30pm on Monday. The bank's websites and smartphone apps were also inaccessible, while many customers could not withdraw money from ATMs.

In a statement, the group apologised for the inconvenience and said all systems were back to normal.

It added: "If anyone has been left out of pocket as a result of these systems problems, we will put this right."

This is not the first time a major problem has left the bank's customers unable to access their money.

In 2012, an IT fault left many RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank customers out of their accounts for a number of days, while customers in Northern Ireland were unable to access their own money for weeks.

The bank, which is 80%-owned by the UK government, said it had improved its services since the problems occurred in June and July of last year.

Monday 2 December was one of the busiest online shopping days of the year. Often known as 'Cyber Monday', hundreds of retailers tend to heavily discount their stock in the hopes of boosting their Christmas sales.

(JP/IT)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

28 March 2013
Fresh Technical Problems For RBS Customers
A fresh wave of technical problems saw RBS customers unable to withdraw cash or access their online bank accounts for several hours. The issues began on Wednesday evening and come less than a year after RBS, Natwest and Ulster Bank customers were hit by major computer issues.
26 June 2012
RBS Bank Problems Keep Man In Cell
A man who had been granted bail spent the weekend in prison because of the RBS computer systems breakdown. The defendant, who has not been identified, was allowed bail at Canterbury crown court in Kent on Friday but was kept in a remand cell until Monday because it was not clear whether his bail surety had been paid.
07 April 2008
HSBC Loses Customers' Details Disc
The HSBC bank has admitted that a computer disc, containing details of 370,000 customers, has been lost. The disc contains customers' names, dates of birth and levels of life assurance cover. It is understood that the disc went missing four weeks ago after it was sent via courier from the bank's Southampton offices.
22 May 2015
RBS Announces Scottish Branch Closures
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced it is to close a number of its branches in Scotland. Describing the move as a "difficult decision", the bank said it would offer affected customers alternative ways of using its services.
09 February 2015
RBS Warns Customers Over 'Free Trial' Scams
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is helping to raise awareness of consumer scams impacting its customers. RBS and NatWest were receiving over 390 calls a day to complain of charges of around £80 a month being applied to customers' accounts that they don't recognise.