NatWest 'glitch' leaves victims without pay

Bank says it does not know when systems will be running normally again after IT meltdown

guardian.co.uk, Hilary Osborne and Lisa Bachelor, Friday 22 June 2012

NatWest’s IT meltdown is also having a serious impact on those who do
not bank with it. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/Rex Features

Millions of NatWest bank customers have been hit by one of the industry's worst ever computer breakdowns, leaving at least one family forced out of their home and employers unable to make monthly salary payments.

As the crisis moved into its fourth day, the bank, which is owned by the taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland group, said it did not know when systems would be running normally again, but was confident it had identified the source of the problem, a "technical glitch".

Irate customers told the Guardian they were unable to see how much money was in their accounts and whether bills had been paid. The bank's IT meltdown is also having a serious impact on those who do not bank with it. First-time buyers Mike Johnson and his wife, Laura, were thrown out of the house they thought they had bought on Thursday evening because the mortgage payment did not go through from their solicitor's NatWest account as expected.

"The sales rep turned up that evening and asked us to leave until she could be sure the money was coming. Laura is 20 weeks pregnant and we had to pack our bags then and there, and we are now living with our sister-in-law until this is sorted out," Johnson said.

"NatWest say they are going to compensate people but how are people like us, who do not even bank with them, going to be compensated?"

Another Guardian reader caught up in the chaos said his bank balance was only showing purchases made two days ago and he had no idea what had gone in and out of his account since.

"How can I spend money for food if I have no idea how much money I have left in my account? I have some direct debits due – have they been deducted? Most importantly, have I been paid? When will I know?"

NatWest said the problem emerged as it tried to run payments on Tuesday night. By Friday afternoon it had located the source of the problem, but was still attempting to fix it. A spokesman said: "The problem is one of a technical nature within the bank, not a result of an attack.

"We definitely know what the original problem was and it is being fixed." He could not say when systems would start running normally.

The bank, which has 7.5 million UK personal banking customers and almost 1 million business customers, kept 1,000 branches open until 7pm for a second day running on Friday, and will extend opening hours over the weekend to deal with inquiries. Some branches will stay open longer on Saturday and open on Sunday between 9am and midday. It said customers may be able to withdraw money at branches even if payments into accounts were not showing, but this was being arranged on an individual basis.

However, some have criticised the way that the bank has dealt with the problem.

On the Guardian website one customer wrote: "When I checked with NatWest they said they can't guarantee that even with a high balance that our direct debits will definitely get paid out and it would be up to us to have to claim back any bank charges incurred by direct debits being re-presented. Seems shambolic."

Another said: "It's disgraceful and not the first time for NatWest … feel for the people whose wages not arrived – we can help ours but others not so fortunate. Think we will be looking to move banks!"

Jonathan Hemus, director of Insignia, a specialist in reputation management and crisis communications, said the company should have been prepared to cope with a major IT outage. "NatWest now needs to show that it cares about what happened. While banks can't always be 100% sure about what's going on, they need to demonstrate they're on top of things and acting in an organised way," he said.

"If they don't people can lose confidence in them. It's clearly not helpful that NatWest has taken so long to sort out the problem. The more you can do and the quicker you can do it, the less long-term harm to your reputation."

The bank said it would "ensure no customers will be permanently out of pocket" as a result of missed payments, but it was still not clear what would happen to customers of other banks caught up in the crisis. Some employees expecting their pay day reported being down to their last few pence and said they did not know how they would cope over the weekend if the payments did not go through.

One said: "My employer banks with NatWest. Salaries should have been paid yesterday – still no sign. About a third of my salary due to go out in direct debits in the next few days."

Under Financial Services Association rules NatWest is responsible for any charges customers incur, or interest they need to pay as a result of the bank's error, but there is no liability for consequential losses and consumers who do not bank with NatWest may have trouble gaining compensation.

Lord Oakeshott, the former Liberal Treasury spokesman, said the bank should compensate all customers affected by the problems. "Millions of hard pressed NatWest customers face a bleak weekend without their pay or benefits cheque – with times so hard they have no cushion," he said. "The bank stings them for £30 the moment they go a penny over the line, now it's payback time and they must pay £30 compensation to anyone who's had to wait two days for their cash. When you're really hard up blocked money pipes are as bad as blocked water pipes."

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