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RBS IT cockup: This sort of thing can destroy a bank, normally

theregister.co.uk

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Re: RBS IT cockup: This sort of thing can destroy a bank, normally

#21

Post by Zenst »

Isofarro wrote: post #15
Zenst wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The aspect that they didn't export the job queue prior to update is something that cross's the border of neglegence with both feet. Still can't understand why a bank that had people who made bad deals and lost money causing the bank to partialy fail are kept inplace and paid bonus's and the IT people who did there job well are replaced by cheap labour external to the country and this is at a time when there going on…

IT is seen as an overhead, and as something that doesn't contribute directly to profitability. When compared to dealers, dealers bring in the profit, IT slurps it away.

Very true sadly. Don't see many outsourced HR and accounts sections though.

Sad part is that when it goes wrong it does effect the balance sheet. Even sadder is how they internaly cost IT and do it wrong. Remove the IT and see how many people/time is needed to do the same job and that is the true cost/potentual impact of IT. Sadly though that is never done and only comes to light when things fail and then they blame IT and not the effects of seagul managment, budget cuts etc.

Re: RBS IT cockup: This sort of thing can destroy a bank, normally

#22

Post by maxer »

andyking wrote: post #2

I have been affected by this over the past week or so. I've been on holiday, and came back to a house with no fresh food, and no working bank account to pay for any, so I've been eating processed shite out of the freezer like a student for four days, and it's making me feel a bit poorly, not to mention the freezer is starting to look a little bare. I haven't had breakfast for days, and I have about two meals left if…

I have been using hsbc for business banking and haven't had a complaint.

You just need to warn them when you travel or they will block your card.

Re: RBS IT cockup: This sort of thing can destroy a bank, normally

#23

Post by rlpb »

andyking wrote: post #2

I have been affected by this over the past week or so. I've been on holiday, and came back to a house with no fresh food, and no working bank account to pay for any, so I've been eating processed shite out of the freezer like a student for four days, and it's making me feel a bit poorly, not to mention the freezer is starting to look a little bare. I haven't had breakfast for days, and I have about two meals left if…

> Surely this isn't acceptable in 2012?

If you depend so much on one single provider then you have a problem, not the system.

Get some redundancy. Get at least one other bank account. Get a credit card, or two. Keep some emergency cash lying around.

Re: RBS IT cockup: This sort of thing can destroy a bank, normally

#25

Post by arethuza »

For anyone interested, the BBC documentary on the near failure of RBS in 2008 is pretty interesting/horrifying:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1cRXipswfA

Alistair Darling's autobiography describes some pretty scary moments - apparently when the Chairman of RBS phoned him (in a bit of a panic) they only had enough cash to last, at most, 2 hours.

[NB Slightly amusing to be posting this to HN when I am maybe 200m from the old RBS HQ]

Re: RBS IT cockup: This sort of thing can destroy a bank, normally

#26

Post by pja »

andyking wrote: post #12
pja wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Co-Op? (Although rumour has it that they're going to completely replace their computer systems either this year or early next year so that might be a case of jumping from one basket case to another!) RBS appears to have fouled up the scheduling of their overnight batch run in a way that meant large tranches of transactions simply weren't going through the system. Fixing the problem has taken days (which may be do…

I can't use the Co-op. They won't let me have an account because I apparently have a bad credit rating. (The real reason, I expect, is because I have no credit rating as I've never applied for a credit card or loan, or been late on a bill.) They're probably overdue a computer system overhaul as they've recently taken over several other banks and building societies, notably the Britannia where I had a few friends work…

It's worth having a credit card just for the cushion it gives you in exactly these kind of circumstances tbh.

Re: RBS IT cockup: This sort of thing can destroy a bank, normally

#27

Post by timthorn »

JonWood wrote: post #10
andyking wrote: post #2

I have been affected by this over the past week or so. I've been on holiday, and came back to a house with no fresh food, and no working bank account to pay for any, so I've been eating processed shite out of the freezer like a student for four days, and it's making me feel a bit poorly, not to mention the freezer is starting to look a little bare. I haven't had breakfast for days, and I have about two meals left if…

I moved from Natwest to First Direct a couple of months ago, and have had a great experience so far. Their online banking isn't quite so nice as Natwest's, but that's more than made up for by the amazing phone service. I've had to call a couple of times (once to replace a lost card), and almost instantly been put through to someone who can solve my problem.

First Direct has no 2FA barrier to online banking, which is one of the key reasons I moved to them from Barclays (who were mostly a decent bank in fairness).

Re: RBS IT cockup: This sort of thing can destroy a bank, normally

#28

Post by nicholassmith »

rlpb wrote: post #23
andyking wrote: post #2

I have been affected by this over the past week or so. I've been on holiday, and came back to a house with no fresh food, and no working bank account to pay for any, so I've been eating processed shite out of the freezer like a student for four days, and it's making me feel a bit poorly, not to mention the freezer is starting to look a little bare. I haven't had breakfast for days, and I have about two meals left if…

> Surely this isn't acceptable in 2012? If you depend so much on one single provider then you have a problem, not the system. Get some redundancy. Get at least one other bank account. Get a credit card, or two. Keep some emergency cash lying around.

"Get some redundancy. Get at least one other bank account. Get a credit card, or two. Keep some emergency cash lying around."

Possibly as a banking customer you'd expect the bank you're with to have a level of redundancy on their key infrastructure.

Re: RBS IT cockup: This sort of thing can destroy a bank, normally

#29

Post by rlpb »

nicholassmith wrote: post #28
rlpb wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Surely this isn't acceptable in 2012? If you depend so much on one single provider then you have a problem, not the system. Get some redundancy. Get at least one other bank account. Get a credit card, or two. Keep some emergency cash lying around.

"Get some redundancy. Get at least one other bank account. Get a credit card, or two. Keep some emergency cash lying around." Possibly as a banking customer you'd expect the bank you're with to have a level of redundancy on their key infrastructure.

I would expect so, but I also would not rely on it.

Re: RBS IT cockup: This sort of thing can destroy a bank, normally

#30

Post by Joeboy »

pja wrote: post #7
andyking wrote: post #2

I have been affected by this over the past week or so. I've been on holiday, and came back to a house with no fresh food, and no working bank account to pay for any, so I've been eating processed shite out of the freezer like a student for four days, and it's making me feel a bit poorly, not to mention the freezer is starting to look a little bare. I haven't had breakfast for days, and I have about two meals left if…

The Co-Op? (Although rumour has it that they're going to completely replace their computer systems either this year or early next year so that might be a case of jumping from one basket case to another!) RBS appears to have fouled up the scheduling of their overnight batch run in a way that meant large tranches of transactions simply weren't going through the system. Fixing the problem has taken days (which may be do…

I've had my main current account with the co-op for years and it's been fine. However I'm a bit pissed off that they've just withdrawn their low-cost phone line and replaced it with a pricier 0844 number.
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