Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Natwest customers are still having issues with their bank accounts, as the technical problems causing havoc at the banking group enter their fifth day.
In a statement last night, RBS admitted it had only just started working through the backlog of customer accounts that needed their balances updated after a software failure on Thursday put a halt to the process.
A source familiar with the situation told Computer Weekly the problem could have been related to a software upgrade. However, it is unusual for upgrades to banking IT systems to be carried out during week day trading hours.
RBS had said yesterday it was “cautiously optimistic” that everything would return to normal by today. But a spokeswoman told Computer Weekly this morning that the systems were “still not 100%” and the group would send out an updated statement as soon as anything changed.
The software issues have meant customers could not access any funds credited to their account from Thursday. The technical faults also meant a number of customers were unable to use their online banking tools.
RBS said it will waive any overdraft fees or charges on current accounts, although these will take a few days to process. It also said it would work with credit agencies to ensure its customers' credit scores were not affected by missed payments.
“For all other issues, customers have our commitment that they will not be out of pocket from this issue,” said Susan Allen, director of customer services at the RBS Group.
