Ulster Bank claims accounts issue ‘resolved’
The issue, which the bank labelled a “human error”, caused widespread fear and anger among customers who were left unable to pay bills, direct debits and standing orders as a result of the problem.
In a statement issued yesterday, the bank said it had rectified the issue and that all customer accounts had been corrected.
“The corrective action taken overnight to resolve the issue has been successful and all transactions have now been posted to customers accounts,” the statement said.
However, a number of customers took to social media again to vent fury that their accounts were still overdrawn and asking where their money was.
One customer posted a screen grab on Twitter from an Ulster Bank webchat conversation where he was informed that the issue “has not been resolved yet”.
Senior executives at Ulster Bank will now face a grilling by the Oireachtas finance committee following the fiasco.
It said the problem was the result of “human error”, but this was disputed by union bosses who blamed “technology problems” and differed with the view of Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe who referred to an “IT problem”.
The Central Bank, which slapped Ulster Bank with a record €3.5m fine in 2014 after IT failures resulted in hundreds of thousands of customers without basic banking services for almost a month in 2012, said it was examining the matter and expected all financial institutions to have “adequate systems and controls in place”.
Mr Donohoe said a glitch which results in customers’ money disappearing from their accounts could cause “panic”.
“It can worry people and cause a lot of panic to people and this is why it is really important that Ulster Bank give the assurance, which they have, that no one will be out of pocket and that the Central Bank investigate and inquire as they have in the past,” he said.
