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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

#51

Post by jmaskell »

pja wrote: post #26
andyking wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's also worth using a credit card for the added protection and other benefits (see http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/credit-card-tips).

Just make sure you pay off the balance in full each month so you never get stung by interest.

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

#52

Post by qntm »

hopeless wrote: post #33

This has also been affecting customers of Ulster Bank in Ireland. The biggest problem appears to be catching up on the backlog of transactions: "The bank processed more than 110,000 transactions with a value of €500 million over the weekend" - http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0625/break... Does anyone else think that 110,000 transactions shouldn't take a whole weekend? Of course, we don't know exactl…

The only explanation for 110,000 transactions taking a whole weekend is if bank employees are handling them manually. That amount of work should take 60 seconds.

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

#53

Post by keithpeter »

willyt wrote: post #35
AlexMuir wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Co-Op run Smile, the internet bank. They've got a great premium current account. However, I've applied six times online (the only way you can). I'd wade through all my details, previous addresses, employers details, passwords, pin numbers - the works. Took at least 20mins a time - then I'd go to the final page and get a generic "There has been an error with your request, please return to your previous page." And…

I tried Co-op online a couple of times and was rejected. I finally went in to the branch on Leadenhall St in the City and applied 'manually' it went very smoothly and the staff are very helpful. They are very strict with checks for loans and mortgages as well. I wasn't able to get a mortgage with them despite being a customer and with them and having a completely clean credit record because they surmised from the loc…

Impressive checking there. I'm thinking of opening a second account with a bank independent of Lloyd's tentacles. Might try that one...

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

#54

Post by Zirro »

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 keep the equivalent of about 500 USD in cash at a "hidden" spot in my apartment, in case something bad temporarily would happen to my bank account. Not enough for it to hurt if it was stolen, but enough to last for a while (I am a student). Perhaps that's something you could consider once this mess is sorted.

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

#55

Post by hopeless »

hopeless wrote: post #33

This has also been affecting customers of Ulster Bank in Ireland. The biggest problem appears to be catching up on the backlog of transactions: "The bank processed more than 110,000 transactions with a value of €500 million over the weekend" - http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0625/break... Does anyone else think that 110,000 transactions shouldn't take a whole weekend? Of course, we don't know exactl…

Just an update: Ulster Bank should be back to normal "next week": http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0626/break...

That's a two week outage. Is this sort of thing common in other countries?

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

#56

Post by yardie »

geoffw8 wrote: post #4
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'm 22, so you might say I haven't experienced the full spectrum of banking products, but for what I have used I really like HSBC. Always quick to answer the phone, and maybe not so specific to their service levels but they were one of the few banks to not take bailout cash if I remember rightly. They have their First Direct offering too, which gives you a higher interest rate for less face-time. You still get to use…

We're refinancing our house through HSBC and our account manager has been exceptionally nice. It's a premier account so we're still trying to get a handle on the different and new fees (recommended because we do a lot of intl travel).

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

#57

Post by ovi256 »

timrobinson wrote: post #20
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…

If it's true that this is a manual error, then I have two questions: 1) Why did it take until the early hours of Wednesday to find out? Why not run a manual check after the change went in? 2) If they found out on Wednesday morning, why did it take until Friday - after three failed batch runs - to fix it?

To both your questions, the answer is lack of expertise at hand. People who knew the smells and idiosyncrasies of the systems were not there anymore. A good engineer (as I'm sure there are plenty in the new offshore teams) can fix mostly anything, he'll just take some time if he never did it before. Now they learned how long those delays were.

Maybe in their next business case for off-shoring, they'll plug in realistic numbers for the risk of downtime and its cost.

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

#58

Post by mjwalshe »

pja wrote: post #26
andyking wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Or have a second bank account with a different bank and dont have all your rainty day savings acounts with the same bank.

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

#59

Post by kingofspain »

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'm with the Co-op and as far as banks go, it's the best I've dealt with so far. Once you memorise the couple of keys to skip straight to a human they pick up straight away and have always been helpful.

On the web though they are horrible. The site is awful and little more than a truncated list of recent transactions with the odd money transfer bit thrown in. I don't know what other banks are like but statements don't go back very far (especially if you have lots of small transactions like I do). They wanted to charge me £395 for statements covering September 2010.

However, they have never cut off my student account without warning a month before I finished (Halifax) or threw my parents out of their house over some fucking clause in the PPI (Natwest).

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

#60

Post by megablast »

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…

So you have one bank account, and no one to borrow money from?
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