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NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank hit by online banking glitch NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank say online banking glitch 'resolved'
(35 minutes later)
Customers of RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank are currently unable to access their accounts through the banking group's online and app platforms. RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank say the problems that meant customers could not access their bank accounts online on Friday have been "resolved".
Since around 05:00 on Friday morning, account holders have been reporting problems with the services. For about five hours customers were locked out of their accounts until the problem was fixed mid-morning.
Many have taken to social media today to complain in an echo of problems at rival Barclays yesterday. Many took to social media to complain, a day after technical problems also hit rival Barclays.
An RBS spokesman said: "We are aware that customers are experiencing issues and are working to fix it." An RBS spokesman said: "We would like to apologise to customers who experienced issues this morning."
He added that: "Customers can still use ATMs and telephone banking or visit their local branch." He added that: "The issue has now been resolved and no customer will be left out of pocket as a result of this."
'Access issue'
RBS Group - which owns the RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank brands - said the failure was caused by a "technical glitch" in a regular update to their firewall which was applied early this morning.
After the problems appeared the update was reversed, allowing customers to get into their accounts once again.
The bank emphasised that it was an "access issue" and there is no evidence that customer data was compromised.
RBS chief executive Ross McEwan apologised this morning.
According to the group's latest annual report it has 19 million customers in the UK and Republic of Ireland with 5.5 million active mobile app users.According to the group's latest annual report it has 19 million customers in the UK and Republic of Ireland with 5.5 million active mobile app users.
Many of them have been sharing their frustration on social media, with a number pointing out that the problems have arrived at a terrible time - payday. Many of them shared their frustration on social media, with a number pointing out that the problems arrived at a terrible time - on payday.
Customer Paul Murphy told the BBC: "This is just what you need as the weekend approaches and bills to pay."Customer Paul Murphy told the BBC: "This is just what you need as the weekend approaches and bills to pay."
Jess Cochrane said: "It's payday, I can't transfer my wage to the joint account all the bills come out of, I have no card and no branch near me."Jess Cochrane said: "It's payday, I can't transfer my wage to the joint account all the bills come out of, I have no card and no branch near me."
The banks had a similar problem in April last year, when their banking apps stopped working. 'Not good enough'
This year has proven to be a terrible one for banking customers with a number being locked out of accounts after their bank has been hit by technical issues. The issue was just the latest in a growing series of problems that customers of Britain's banks have experienced in the last 18 months.
Barclays customers were locked out of their accounts online for several hours on Thursday. The RBS group had a similar problem in April last year, when its banking apps stopped working.
Meanwhile customers of online challenger bank Cashplus - which targets people with poor credit histories - were unable to access their accounts, make cash withdrawals, or make or receive payments earlier this week.
Earlier this year TSB's huge IT meltdown led to weeks of pain for customers and the eventual resignation of chief executive Paul Pester.Earlier this year TSB's huge IT meltdown led to weeks of pain for customers and the eventual resignation of chief executive Paul Pester.
Hannah Maundrell, editor of money.co.uk said: "Banks really need to pull their socks up because this keeps happening. It's really not good enough when so many customers are being encouraged to bank online." But this week has marked three bank outages.
Customers of online challenger bank Cashplus - which targets people with poor credit histories - were unable to access their accounts, make cash withdrawals, or make or receive payments earlier this week.
Then on Thursday Barclays customers were locked out of their accounts online for several hours. The bank is still yet to explain what caused the problem.
A Barclays spokeswoman told the BBC: "Our priority yesterday was to get services back online for customers. We're currently investigating the root cause of the outage."
Hannah Maundrell, editor of Money.co.uk said: "Banks really need to pull their socks up because this keeps happening. It's really not good enough when so many customers are being encouraged to bank online."