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Fury as NatWest bank glitch drags on

published by Tom Sullivan on Mon, 2012-06-25 07:20

RBS is warning its 17 million customers that the backlog caused by a technical glitch could take at least another two days to clear, meaning that the computer failure will have lasted for more than a week.

Customers deluged online forums with complaints yesterday, saying that they were unable to pay bills and were concerned about the impact it could have on their credit ratings.

The crisis has hit customers at RBS and two of its subsidiaries, NatWest and Ulster, and the bank admitted that the chaos caused by a technical glitch is so severe that it does not even know how many accounts are affected.

Yesterday, more than 1,200 NatWest branches were opened on a Sunday for the first time in its history, while a further 1,000 branches will be open until 7pm today in an attempt to ease the problem.

Source and full story: The Telegraph, 24 June 2012

Tags: 
UNITED KINGDOM
IRELAND
BANKING

Comments

Submitted by Tom Sullivan on Mon, 2012-06-25 07:31.

My initial reaction was that this "glitch" is a bank holiday by any other name.

However, an interesting comment over at Zero Hedge puts this down to a software error that appeared after a recent upgrade and that the software was developed in RBS's office in Chennai (Mumbai) who didn't spot the error during testing. 

If it is true that a software upgrade had been developed in India, this is entirely plausible, as it has been my experience that despite their trumpeting about how great they are at software development, Indian software houses pay significantly less attention to QA than their Western counterparts. In reality Indian software developers really have only one thing going for them - they are cheaper, which counts for a lot in a world obsessed with the bottom line. 

Submitted by Heydrich on Mon, 2012-06-25 23:12.

[1] Sullivan writes, “Indian software developers have only one thing going for them - they are cheaper, which counts for a lot in a world obsessed with the bottom line.”

Yes, and problems are multiplied because a TBTF bank like RBS is allowed to gamble with depositors’ money. All those derivatives and casino games are complex.

[2] The article says, “Royal Bank of Scotland is 82 per cent owned by the taxpayer after a £2billion bail-out in 2009.”

Nonsense. TBTF banks bail themselves out. Then they penalize the masses with austerity. The government gets its money by borrowing from TBTF banks. TBTF banks create the currency.

Taxpayers have no say in this. They own nothing. The corporate media tells them they "own" 82% of RBS so the masses think they are not slaves.

Submitted by Tom Sullivan on Tue, 2012-06-26 07:00.

Taxpayers have no say in this. They own nothing. The corporate media tells them they "own" 82% of RBS so the masses think they are not slaves.

In reality, they only own 82% of its losses.

Submitted by Heydrich on Fri, 2012-06-29 01:45.

Excellent point, Sullivan. You are correct. When a bank is "nationalized," only its debt is nationalized. Private bankers maintain control, and they keep all their winnings, while they dump their losses and their debts onto the masses like a tsunami of sewage. The resulting cesspool is called "austerity." Politicians, academicians, and media talking heads stay on the bankers' payroll as long as they assist and protect this dumping of sewage.

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