2012 RBS Group computer system problems

Royal Bank of Scotland technical issues September 2012 September 2020 The 2012 RBS computer system problems were technical issues affecting computers run by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (now NatWest Group), including National Westminster Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank, which began on 19 June 2012. In 2014, RBS was fined £42m over the incident.https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-fines-rbs-natwest-and-ulster-bank-ltd-%C2%A342-million-it-failures FCA fines RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank Ltd £42 million for IT failures 20 November 2014 BBC News 2015-05-10 Cause A software update was applied on 19 June 2012 to RBS's CA-7 softwarehttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/jun/25/how-natwest-it-meltdown How NatWest's IT meltdown developed 25 June 2012 25 June 2012 The Guardian Arthur Charles which controls its payment processing system. It later emerged that the update was corrupted by RBS technical staff.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18561426 NatWest computer glitch 'fixed but backlog remains' 23 June 2012 25 June 2012 BBC Newshttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/banking/9352573/NatWest-customers-still-unable-to-see-bank-balances-on-sixth-day-of-glitch.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120624172434/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/banking/9352573/NatWest-customers-still-unable-to-see-bank-balances-on-sixth-day-of-glitch.html dead 24 June 2012 NatWest customers still unable to see bank balances on sixth day of glitch 24 June 2012 25 June 2012 The Daily Telegraph Customers' wages, payments and other transactions were disrupted.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/banking/9351101/NatWest-computer-glitch-fixed-but-backlog-remains.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120623181155/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/banking/9351101/NatWest-computer-glitch-fixed-but-backlog-remains.html dead 23 June 2012 NatWest computer glitch 'fixed but backlog remains' 23 June 2012 25 June 2012 The Daily Telegraph Ensor Josie Hall James Some customers were unable to withdraw cash using ATMs or to see bank account details.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18577109 Is outsourcing the cause of RBS debacle? Peston Robert BBC News 25 June 2012 26 June 2012 Others faced fines for late payment of bills because the system could not process direct debits. Stephen Hester, CEO of the RBS Group, said that the problem was caused by a software upgrade.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-18582925 RBS boss says software upgrade caused problems BBC News 25 June 2012 25 June 2012 Unite union leaders criticised Hester's management of the episode, but Hester denied that the outsourcing of IT services to India was a factor in the problem, saying that the bank's IT services were mostly based in Edinburgh.https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jun/25/unite-attacks-rbs-slashing-jobs RBS boss says outsourcing not to blame for computer glitch The Guardian 25 June 2012 25 June 2012 Treanor Jill A spokesman for the RBS Group said that the problem had occurred in the UK. Impact Completions of new home purchases were delayed,NatWest problems stop non-customers moving into new home The Guardian – Lisa Bachelor, 22 June 2012 and some people were stranded abroad.June 2020 Another account holder was threatened with the discontinuation of their life support machine in a Mexican hospital,June 2020 and one man was held in prison.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18589280 BBC News - RBS computer problems kept man in prison BBC 2012-06-26 2013-06-10 As a result of the error, RBS and NatWest announced that over 1,200 of their busiest branches would extend their hours throughout the week, including the bank's first Sunday opening, to enable affected customers to access cash.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/banking/9353846/RBS-glitch-well-on-the-way-to-being-fixed-says-chief.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120626003207/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/banking/9353846/RBS-glitch-well-on-the-way-to-being-fixed-says-chief.html dead 26 June 2012 RBS glitch 'well on the way' to being fixed, says chief The Daily Telegraph Hall James 25 June 2012 25 June 2012 On Monday 25 June, over 1,000 branches opened for extended hours, and the number of phone staff was doubled to deal with customer queries.https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jun/23/natwest-technical-glitch-fixed NatWest 'technical glitch' fixed, says spokesman Adetunji Jom The Guardian 23 June 2012 25 June 2012 On 26 June, RBS admitted that some transactions were still affected by the problem. Ulster Bank said on Wednesday 27 June that it did not expect full services to be restored until the start of the following week, but that it hoped that the automatic payments backlog would be cleared by the weekend.https://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/jun/27/rbs-natwest-it-problems-ulster-account-holders RBS and NatWest: continuing IT problems affect Ulster account holders 27 June 2012 28 June 2012 The Guardian Bachelor Lisa On 3 July RBS admitted that some RBS and NatWest personal loan borrowers had accidentally been charged twice and newspapers advised RBS customers to check their balances.https://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/jul/03/rbs-natwest-customers-loan-repayments RBS and NatWest customers 'had loan repayments taken twice' The Guardian 3 July 2012 4 July 2012 Insley Jill Customers of Ulster Bank were still having problems accessing cash on 2 July and the bank admitted that they did not know when customers would be able to access cash.https://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/jul/02/rbs-it-ulster-bank-customers-without-access RBS IT fallout: Ulster Bank customers still without account access The Guardian 2 July 2012 4 July 2012 King Mark RBS denied that the delays with Ulster Bank meant that customers in Ireland meant less to them, saying that Ulster Bank payments followed those of NatWest and RBS. This was a result of the way the computers were set up when the three banks were merged. Monthly payments of social welfare to 48,000 Ulster Bank customers in the Republic of Ireland due on 3 July would be added to the existing backlog.http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0703/ulster-bank-technology.html RBS Chairman Philip Hampton warns Ulster Bank problems may continue into next week RTÉ News and Current Affairs 3 July 2012 4 July 2012 RBS said on 4 July that the vast majority of Ulster Bank customers would have normal services restored by 16 July 2012.https://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/jul/04/rbs-ulster-bank-accounts RBS admits some Ulster Bank accounts won't be up and running until 16 July The Guardian 4 July 2012 6 July 2012 Osborne Hilary On 5 July the Ulster Bank CEO Jim Brown agreed to waive his annual bonus in response to the crisis.http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0706/1224319513539.html Ulster Bank CEO bows to pressure on annual bonus The Irish Times 6 July 2012 6 July 2012 Carswell Simon Pope Conorhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18731980 Ulster Bank chief executive Jim Brown will not take bonus BBC News 5 July 2012 6 July 2012 Reaction United Kingdom The Financial Services Authority asked other banks to treat customers of RBS fairly and also demanded a complete account of the problem. Lord Oakeshott called for the bank to be broken up. Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, called for a full investigation by the Financial Services Authority and told the Treasury Select Committee that he had been in very close contact with senior RBS staff over the weekend.https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jun/26/rbs-glitch-investigation-mervyn-king RBS glitch needs full investigation, says Mervyn King 26 June 2012 26 June 2012 The Guardian Treanor Jill The Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Rachel Reeves, said that it was "absolutely imperative" that the bank got the situation under control.https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jun/24/rbs-natwest-ulster-computer-glitch RBS promises to compensate customers affected by computer glitch The Guardian 24 June 2012 26 June 2012 Treanor Jill Ireland The Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, criticised Ulster Bank for the situation which affected 30,000 social welfare recipients.http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0623/1224318509593.html Politicians criticise Ulster Bank over crash The Irish Times 23 June 2012 25 June 2012 Powers Rachel McGreevy Ronan Hennessy Mark Senator Lorraine Higgins called the situation a "fiasco" and said Ulster Bank should ensure that customers credit ratings were not affected, which Ulster Bank replied it would. The Irish Bank Officials' Association said that an agreement had been made that overtime would be voluntary and that Ulster Bank workers would be paid appropriately for extra work. The Irish Payment Services Organisation advised customers to keep records of how they were affected and to contact the Financial Services Ombudsman if they were not satisfied. There was press criticism of Ulster Bank's perceived downplaying of the issue in the early stages.http://www.independent.ie/opinion/editorial/serious-questions-that-ulster-bank-must-answer-3147907.html Serious questions that Ulster Bank must answer 25 June 2012 25 June 2012 Irish Independent The Consumers' Association of Ireland said it had received thousands of complaints from Ulster Bank customers. The Oireachtas Committee on Finance called on representatives of the Central Bank of Ireland to appear before it on 4 July and management of Ulster Bank to do the same on 5 July. RBS statements On the first Monday after the start of the problems, RBS said that their computers were operating normally, but that Stephen Hester had sent a senior colleague to Dublin to deal with the situation in Ulster Bank. On the same day, some customers still could not see up-to-date account details. On 27 June RBS announced that it had cancelled its corporate hospitality at Wimbledon as it would be inappropriate under the circumstances.http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0627/1224318804398.html Ulster Bank says no one will be 'out of pocket' Carroll Steven 27 June 2012 28 June 2012 The Irish Times References Banks Category:NatWest Group Category:2010s in economic history Category:Software anomalies