Sorry, more bad news!

NatWest Bank have announced their complete computing system is not functioning at the moment. The branches will be open all weekend to resolve it.

 

there are banks in the US that are having the same probs ... some say it will only be (possibly) sorted on monday

sounds like a conspiracy to me ....

 

Natwest had the problem since Monday (allegedly) the cause is fixed but its taking a long time to put everything right.
Natwest are also opening on Sunday, you are advised to call in or call their call centre, they do not want anyone to be out of pocket over the matter.

 

hmm - NatWest system failure the same time that Ziggys router fails - coincidence ? I think not !

 

Just bears out my theory.
I've always looked upon the internet as just a toy, its not reliable and should not be considered the main way of doing buisness.
Comes in handy sometimes, when its working, but its just not reliable enough to be used for anything serious.

 

they are testing us for when the euro crashes .... they will crash the systems so that there won't be a bank run (like with northern rock)

 

Those of us in the industry have a theory based on standard industry practice, especially in the financial sector.

We know that Natwest have just launched their new service where you can get a code on your mobile to get emergency cash when you've lost your card. Lets say a bug has been found in that piece of code. Most likely a security vulnerability that could result in someone defrauding the bank or their customers.

The thing to do is not to simply disable that feature, which may be so deeply embedded in their system by now that simply switching it off is not an option. Instead you basically say no money is going anywhere until we've made sure its safe. Natwest's liability if an vulnerability was exploited would be immense, many times greater than their liability arising from the fallout from this incident, so if that's what it is, then a decision will have come from very high up, quite probably influenced by external parties like insurers, to simply prevent any money changing hands until the issue is resolved.

 

Blimey, I was just thinking the same thing before reading your post Nick

Ziggy used to work in the banking system And would like to reasure GC members that there is no need for a panic run on UK banks.

They are all underwriten by the UK government to the tune of £80K per account holder.

This applies to all UK banks, building societies, isa's etc.

Except ING, which is underwriten by the Dutch Government.

However, this is of no consolation if you only want to get a tenner out to go down the pub.

Nat West left me high and dry at the end of the last recession. I had been working all the hours I could and the first bank holiday weekend of the year they sent me a letter saying they had canceled my overdraft, effectively leaving me with one pound for the whole 3 days split between a family of 4.

 

So did you ask for 4 straws - or tap water the OH & the kids?

 

here's a good thread explaining ... read all the pages:

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread853224/pg1

 

@ Gcc, just stayed at home & had to tell the kids Daddy couldn't take them to the seaside.

@ Dim, Lots of panicked & wee'd off people there but proposing the end of the banking system after a failed upgrade is a bit ott.

 

I only got as far as the first page. Seems a few people who haven't got the faintest clue what's happening are formulating the 'truth' that a virus has been crossed with a trojan or something and a hack has been involved.

I can only say, as someone with a fairly substantial background in the industry, most of it coming from the financial sector, that its the most ill-informed work of fiction I've ever tried to read.

Maybe later pages have the explanation, but I couldn't get that far.

The IT systems of banks are not built by hobbyists. There is a very good reason why in the financial sector, no one IT bod has access to everything. There's also good reason why IT systems are built with such a high degree of redundancy that ANY virus or hack would be quarantined very quickly, and any single hardware failure will have zero (not low, zero) impact on normal operation. Its why software developers in the financial industry get paid slightly better than normal rates and have to jump through hoops and explain everything to an endless stream of auditors, just in case they might be tempted to be corrupt, even though though as I mentioned no one individual has access to everything.

This is almost certainly nothing more sinister than a bug in some new code that was rolled out into production. Something that's passed rigorous testing, but some unforeseen circumstance has exposed an issue that creates a risk. You mitigate that risk by going into lock-down. Its harsh, but when such massive sums of money are involved, it is the only option. Once in my career I've witnessed it. We had a very low risk issue that came to light, so we were told that no financial records will be updated in any way until its fixed. We all did some overtime, then we all spent more time than we'd like talking to auditors. Lots of people got upset, and our press office made some extremely vague statement. Its standard procedure in the financial industry, and its even in the FSA guidelines.

 

Thanks for the Tech Back up Dave

Like I said, no need to withdraw cash & crash the banking system just yet.

 

Recently retired from HMRC tax credits, still have my friends still there
They have been swamped with calls where is my money, Answer with the bank

The bank obviously will not take the previous weekly payment figure, and make them a cash payment on previous, as they may no longer be entitled,to payments from HMRC or their employer (In Fife and Dundee, employers wages have been locked out also)
There are millions of people out there tonight who should have been paid Wednesday still have no access to monies from their bank)
6 million tax credit customers, Who in my experience run out of money two days before their payment is due, and queue up at the ATM First thing the morning it is due, desperate for money to feed the kids (Whilst smoking B&H swigging a can of Special brew)

And think of the poor ones who have taken the "pay day loan" out
£300 in your hand within fifteen minutes pay it back( £420 )within 24hrs only 1800% interest
What will happen to them now on day five OMG

One of these companies has an ad on TV and you have to laugh really
Pay day loan Short of money until tomorrow, phone us on 0800 xxx xxx and you can have £70 in your hand within half an hour, cost is only £35 the girl smiles and sticks £70 in her purse,
Then the next loser comes on, and says my boyfriend and I have never been on holiday as we could not afford it, they have given me £1200 and we are off to France, she is only paying £4k back :-)
Why does she not save the £1200 up THEN go on holiday and save some more to have had three holidays With spending money CRIMINAL but people do it

Jack McH

 

There'll be plenty of very responsible but slightly skint people also struggling with their bank accounts frozen, and its especially unfair to them if they have money but can't access it from their current accounts.

However, although its not much consolation, they will be within their rights to demand that Natwest cover any costs they've (reasonably) incurred as a result of this situation. So lets say they can't pay their credit card on time because they can't get to their own money. They get charged £20 late payment fee, it would be perfectly reasonable to pass that on to the bank, and I have no doubt Natwest will have already estimated their liability and set 70% of that money aside (they'll be expecting that 30% of their potential liability will never be claimed, and they'll be right). That will be a lot cheaper than their liability that they'd have if they ignored a risk and things went pear shaped.