UNITED KINGDOM
- IT experts say that the CEO of British banks, NatWest and RBS, Stephen Hesther has not
been honest about the 'technical failures' which have shut down the banking
system for seven days.
Mr Hester has not explained what went wrong but Union officials at Unite said "serious questions" needed to be asked
about the management of the bank after Hester cut jobs and outsourced
operations as he raced to cut costs and pull out of unprofitable
business lines to try to restore the troubled bank to financial health.
12 million people have been left in financial difficulties as wages and payments have
failed to show up in people's bank accounts. Many people have not been able to
pay for rent, mortgages, telephone, gas and electric bills. Millions have gone without
food.
1200 branches of the RBS will remain open to customers from 8am to 6pm all week. The NatWest websites wrongly
states that the problem had been fixed. Individuals and families who were in
the process of buying or selling their properties, businesses and individuals
are furious and feel let down that they have been left in limbo.
Financial experts have advised customers to make notes of the money they were expecting
into thir accounts and all the payments they have had to make due to this banking failure. Customers are also advised to open card accounts in a number of different banks to spe=read risk.
According to the British Financial Ombudsman, thousands of complaints have
been received by unhappy customers and the banks may have to pay out huge
amounts on compensation.
The bank's problems began on Tuesday night when it updated key piece of software called CA-7, which controls the batch processing systems that deal with retail banking transactions – ahead of the regular nightly run.
NatWest has admitted that it could not say exactly how much money should
be in individual accounts as the crisis caused by a failed 'software' update last week spiralled out of control.
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