Long-suffering customers of RBS and NatWest can wave goodbye to impromptu technical faults by switching to a new bank in just seven days.
The bank has apologised after its latest glitch on the evening of Cyber Monday left customers of the banking group without access to their cash and unable to make electronic payments.
Websites and smartphone apps were also affected during the downtime, which lasted between approximately 18:30 and 21:30 on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
Customers continued to report irregularities on Tuesday, with some finding large sums missing from their accounts.
This is the fourth incident in just 18 months, following a faulty software upgrade in June 2012, which caused widespread problems for individuals and businesses.
Ross McEwan, the new chief executive at RBS, has admitted that for decades the bank has “failed to invest properly in its systems”.
He accepted the sequence of glitches was “unacceptable” and said that the bank is working “to put our customers’ needs at the centre of all we do”.
The warning signs have been evident for some time, however. Last year, regulators described RBS’s systems as ‘chronic’, while both Santander and Nationwide shunned a deal to acquire 316 branches from the banking group, citing concerns with IT integration.
Compensation and Repercussions
The bank has promised to reimburse customers who have been adversely affected by the latest system failure. This means, for example, that any fines resulting from the late payment of a bill will be refunded.
Likewise, any charges resulting from customers having to withdraw cash from alternative sources, such as a credit card or dipping into an overdraft, will be refunded.
It is to be expected that customers will need documentation to prove that they have been charged, so statements and receipts will come in handy for any claim.
It’s also a wise move for customers to consult their credit reports if any bills have been paid late through no fault of their own. As with previous occasions, RBS has said that it will work with credit reference agencies to ensure that nobody is negatively affected by the latest fault.
But the consequences of a black mark could be serious – impacting the ability to apply for a mortgage, for example. It’s not worth taking too many chances.
Fed up? It’s easy to switch!
RBS’s confession about its investment shortfall is hardly a surprise, and it’s laudable that the bank is making efforts to rectify its weaknesses. But it’s hardly unreasonable for customers to consider their options given the circumstances.
Banks are vying for our custom, and we expect the fundamental systems to remain functional at all times. If an airline said it had underinvested in its systems for decades, you can be sure that most would seek an alternative. If it suffered four failures, the consequences for its business would be catastrophic.
The integrity of RBS’s systems has been compromised four times in just 18 months. And the knowledge that more failures could follow as the bank hastily catches up after decades of underinvestment hardly inspires confidence in reliability for the immediate future.
Banks used to be able to get away with this, when a drawn-out switching system deterred customers from switching banks. But now, thanks to a new seven-day switching system, you can be sat pretty with a new bank account in just a week.
All inbound and outbound payment instructions will be automatically forwarded, and the new system comes with a guarantee that will reimburse customers if anything goes wrong.
Among the current accounts currently available are Nationwide’s FlexDirect account, which offers a stunning 5% in interest on balances up to £2,500 for the first twelve months, and the Santander 123 current account, which offers both interest and cashback worth up to 3%.
- Find out more about the current accounts on offer here.
- Find out more about switching accounts with the new system here.
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