27/06/2012

By Scott Thompson

RBS and NatWest say that things are almost back to normal following last week's IT glitch.

The cause is believed to be a faulty update to its batch scheduling software, CA 7 Workload Automation, supplied by CA Technologies. Millions of NatWest customers were affected for several days, unable to make payments or access online banking. Ulster Bank customers, meanwhile, continue to experience problems.

According to a statement issued yesterday: "RBS and NatWest confirm that the update of customer account balances has cleared overnight, with the exception of a few specific sets of transactions. We know this disruption was unacceptable and that many customers will still have questions and concerns. It is possible a small number of customers may experience delays as we return to a completely normal service. We will continue to extend our branch opening hours all week."

On the Ulster Bank situation, the statement notes that, "the full focus of our efforts will now be on delivering the same result for our Ulster Bank customers who continue to experience unacceptable delays to their accounts being updated. We are confident that this will help us restore a full service for the start of next week for Ulster Bank and remain grateful for our customers' patience. We will continue with extended opening hours for the remainder of this week and with the extensive customer support we have in place to mitigate the impact of this delay."

At the time of writing, the statement had attracted 75 comments from customers who claim they are still waiting for salaries to clear, payments to be credited and so on. Sample comment: "What about Think Banking customers? Don't we MATTER beacuse (sic) we are already shafted on debt management? Both regular and so called "special" contact numbers have been engaged since 8am this morning. I'd move bank if a had a choice. Absolute joke. I live from paycheck to paycheck because of my situation (caused by the housing crisis I should add!) I rang yesterday and got through and was told my credit (due Saturday) would be available today. All LIES!!!!"