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RBS sorry for disruption to services RBS may compensate customers after accounts disrupted
(about 7 hours later)
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) group has apologised to customers who faced disruption to their banking services on Wednesday night. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) group has said it may compensate customers who experienced disruption to their banking services overnight.
Customers at RBS and subsidiary NatWest began reporting problems with online and phone banking, cash withdrawals and debit card payments at about 2200 GMT. Customers at RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank faced problems with online and phone banking, cash withdrawals and debit card payments at about 2200 GMT.
RBS said all services had returned to normal at 0100 GMT but some customers still could not access their accounts. There were reports of some customers having their cards "swallowed" at cash points.
It is the second time in nine months technical problems have hit the group. RBS said all services had returned to normal at 0100 GMT.
Last summer, millions of customers were unable to move money or pay bills for days. However, some customers said they still could not access their accounts.
A spokesperson for the RBS group said: "We are disappointed that our customers have faced disruption to banking services for a period this evening, and apologise for that. All services are now running as normal again. Account holders wanting compensation are being asked to contact the bank. "We will look at it on a case-by-case basis," said a spokesperson at the bank's Edinburgh headquarters.
"If any customers are having continued difficulties please call on 0845 7242424 if an RBS customer or 0845 7888 444 if a NatWest customer so we can resolve their issues." 'Disappointed'
Ulster Bank, also part of the RBS group, also apologised to customers. The bank, which has 25 million customers in the UK, has apologised to those affected.
No reasons were given for the latest problems. "We are disappointed that our customers have faced disruption to banking services for a period yesterday evening, and apologise for that."
Earlier, a NatWest customer services assistant said he believed that the problems were affecting the majority of UK customers. The bank is insisting that all services are now back to normal, apart from some "isolated incidents."
Customers took to social networking sites to complain about the problems. Earlier customers took to social networking sites to complain about the problems.
Stuart Keel said on Twitter: "No cards accepted, apps or online banking working across the country. I found out the hard way, declined in Asda!"Stuart Keel said on Twitter: "No cards accepted, apps or online banking working across the country. I found out the hard way, declined in Asda!"
In June 2012, RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank had to extend opening hours at their branches to assist customers who had been unable to pay bills, move money or whose salaries had not been paid. Previous incident
That problem was apparently caused by an update to the software used for processing payments. It is not the first time that RBS has experienced difficulties with its systems.
In June 2012, 16 million customers of RBS, NatWest and Ulster bank had difficulties with cash withdrawals, phone and online banking and debit cards, which the bank blamed on a software update.
So far RBS has not said why its systems failed again on Wednesday.
At the time of last year's incident, Stephen Hester, the chief executive of RBS, said: "We have to learn lessons from what went wrong here and try to make (such failures) less likely in future."
In total, £125m was paid out to customers in compensation last year, and branch opening hours were extended to help customers who experienced difficulties.
Any customers still experiencing difficulties are being asked to call 0845 7242424 if an RBS customer or 0845 7888 444 if a NatWest customer.
Are you a NatWest customer? Have you experienced any problems accessing your account? Send us your comments using the form below.Are you a NatWest customer? Have you experienced any problems accessing your account? Send us your comments using the form below.