Bank's IT Glitch Leaves 100,000 Without Cash

A major IT meltdown affecting one of Ireland's biggest banks has left over one hundred thousand people without wages and welfare payments for several days, and sparked chaos and confusion.

A technical glitch meant that electronic payments to Ulster Bank accounts did not go through at the end of last week.

The fault also affected NatWest, and RBS - its sister banks in the UK.

Ulster Bank kept dozens of branches in Ireland open over the weekend to deal with the fallout from the technical problems, but has admitted it could be the end of this week before the issues are sorted out.

Ambulance drivers, nurses and carers were among the 40,000 staff in the Health Service Executive who were left without wage payments, because the HSE uses Ulster Bank to distribute staff salaries.

Those who do not bank with Ulster Bank themselves but whose employer uses an Ulster account to distribute wages to the workers' own bank accounts were all affected.

The Department of Social Protection said that 29,100 payments it makes every week were also affected.

People who bank with Ulster Bank and use their online bank account to pay bills were unable to, and Irish people working abroad were unable to get access to their accounts.

Customers wishing to use laser or debit cards over the weekend were unable to in many cases as the bank thinks they have no money in their account.

And thousands were set to go into arrears on mortgages and not have direct debits and standing orders paid.

The bank said it will endeavor to ensure no one is out of pocket.

It said: "If a customer received a charge in error as a result of this issue they will not be financially disadvantaged."

And if a mortgage repayment can't be made, the bank said it would make allowances for this.

But the IT fault has led to sharp criticism from government ministers over the frustration it has caused to people.

Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton said up to thirty thousand welfare recipients were being left without enough money to buy food over the weekend.

"Given all of the grief that banks have caused to people in Ireland, I really think that the bank needs to address this particular situation with absolute urgency," she said.

"They have to look at the situation of people over the weekend, particularly older people, who spend all their social welfare income.

"For some of the people at the top of the banks, €100 might not seem a lot but it is to a pensioner."

In a statement Sunday, Ulster Bank said it was working hard to ensure the problem was sorted.

"Our customers, and the customers of other banks, are continuing to experience issues with our services. Where customers have had money go into their accounts, there may be a delay in it showing up on their balance," it admitted.

CEO of the parent company, RBS boss Stephen Hester, conceded the bank had let customers in the UK and Ireland down badly.

"I am very sorry for the difficulties people are experiencing," he said.

"Our customers rely on us day in and day out to get things right, and on this occasion we have let them down. This should not have happened.

"This is taking time, but I want to reassure people that we are working around the clock to resolve these problems as quickly as we are able.

"I also want to reassure customers that no one will be left permanently out of pocket as a result of this, and again, they should contact us directly about this."

So far, the glitch has only affected those who are paid weekly or fortnightly.

But thousands more are paid on a monthly basis, and there were fears that if the IT issue is not sorted out by the end of this week, the scale of the disruption could escalate significantly.

The bank says it has fixed the technical problem but is experiencing some delays in sorting out the backlog of unprocessed transactions.