NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank opened over weekend to deal with fallout from computer error that began on Tuesday
Jill Treanor
Royal Bank of Scotland is facing calls to make payments as soon as possible to customers affected by its long-running computer crisis, as it admitted NatWest branches would again be opened for extended hours on Monday.
The bank, whose NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster branches, have all been affected by the problem, has unveiled a three point plan designed to ensure consumers were not left out of pocket.
RBS first encountered problems with its computer systems on Tuesday after an upgrade of its software, and has since been struggling to resolve the issues. Customers found payments had not been made to their accounts, and many were unable to access their cash. NatWest opened around 1,200 branches for the first time ever on a Sunday to deal with the backlog of transactions, and on Monday, they will be open between 8am and 7pm.
After furious reactions to the chaos, the bank outlined a list of measures to help consumers. It said:
• Any customer who faced overdraft charges or fees caused by the computer glitch would be refunded.
• The bank would deal with credit scoring agencies for customers who missed payments because of the RBS problem and might face damaging their credit rating.
• The bank would ensure that customers stranded because of the computer problem would not be left out pocket.
Richard Lloyd, executive director of consumer body Which? said: “Natwest should be looking to compensate everyone who has been affected. No quibbles”. Lloyd, whose consumer body Which? will produce advice on how to make a claim, said the matter “does raise the question about how robust and up to date other banks IT systems are”.
The precise bill the bank faces is not yet known, but could run into tens of millions of pounds. As well as payments to disgruntled customers, there is the cost of bringing in 7,000 staff this weekend to open branches and tackle the computer problem, which RBS said was getting closer to being resolved. Susan Allen, director of customer services, said:
“We are making progress to clear the backlog of payments, and I’m cautiously optimistic that RBS and NatWest customer account balances will be largely back to normal from Monday,” Allen said.
“We will automatically waive any overdraft fees or charges on current accounts. This will be processed over the next few days.We will work directly with credit agencies to ensure no one has their credit score affected,” she said.
“For all other issues, customers have our commitment that they will not be out of pocket from this issue. We will publish further details on how we will ensure this later in the week,” Allen added.
RBS chief executive Stephen Hester was in the bank’s Edinburgh headquarters on Sunday and will remain there for most of week, as this is the primary centre for the banks IT sytems.
He had aologised late on Saturday. “I am very sorry for the difficulties people are experiencing. Our customers rely on us day in and day out to get things right and on this occasion we have let them down. This should not have happened,” Hester said. He insisted that an extra 7,000 staff drafted in to open branches and deal with technical difficulties were working “round the clock” to sort out the problem.
Hester has drafted in Chris Sullivan, head of the corporate bank, to oversee the ongoing problems at Ulster Bank with Sullivan is temporarily in Dublin.
The overall retail bank is awaiting the arrival of its new boss who is due to arrive in August after Brian Hartzer left the week before the current crisis started.
City regulator the Financial Services Authority has been in “close dialogue” with RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank since Tuesday and urged the banks to ensure that customers are “treated fairly”. The regulator is also demanding a “complete account” of the problems at the banks.
Politicians were also issuing warnings to RBS. Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Rachel Reeves told sky news it was “absolutely imperative that RBS gets a grip on this situation”.
Liberal democrat peer Lord Oakeshott said; ” Enough is enough. RBS have failed the nation for years on lending to small business- now for millions of hard pressed people in hard times, blocked money pipes are as awful as blocked water pipes”.
He called for RBS to be broken up into separate high street and investment banking businesses. He said: “It is just as unacceptable as having water or power cut off for five days and counting, with no weather to blame”.
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