Ulster Bank Systems are down *READ* Mod post #291

midlandsmissus

I just don't understand technically what could have affected it on such a huge level. A company that size would have huge back ups, checks, security software.

Has to have been a malicious attack?

Why are they being so unforthcoming with information.

The worst thing was they didnt tell us what was going on, first of all I think it was 'some online banking may be affected', then 'benefits payments haven't gone through',,
Not this will affect nearly every customer, it is the biggest thing that has happened in banking in a longtime, and some of you might have to go at least a day without money! One day for me. Managed to get money out today.

sofireland

So if something was due to go in today, its meant to show tomorrow??
Or is it at the mercy of the gods?

Bigcheeze

Has something also happened to BOI ? Business account has not updated since yesterday even though electronic payments were made today.

This is probably how they'd handle it if we left the Euro...freeze bank accounts....blame hackers.......a week later, tada everything's fixed but your money has a new name.

mel.b

midlandsmissus wrote: »

I just don't understand technically what could have affected it on such a huge level. A company that size would have huge back ups, checks, security software.

y.

You'd think so, wouldn't you? All 4 of the major banks In Australia have gone down in a similar manner over the past 12 months or so...

http://www.availabilitydigest.com/public_articles/0703/australian_bank_outages.pdf

http://www.news.com.au/money/banking/technical-glitch-disables-nab-accounts/story-e6frfmcr-1226267795376

http://www.afr.com/p/technology/commonwealth_bank_atms_crash_t0IUgTeDUvMVC3IvZYn35O

Tow

midlandsmissus wrote: »

Has to have been a malicious attack?

Has that look about it, RBS have laid off a large number of staff in recent times... Otherwise it is gross incompetence, a bank should have their main systems fully duplicated in a second site, with minimum downtime switching between the two.

Back in the day when UB was UB, I was told they had their 'computer center' in a number of portacabins. They even had plans in place to stick them on the back of low loaders and move them to the UK if the Troubles got too bad. From that I now hear, all those experenced staff have long gone.

szjon

2qk4u wrote: »

There were issues on Monday, read my earlier post, I have reported issues to the bank from Monday...

I reported it early last week, the girl on reception laughed at me, then when i pressed the issue she asked me to leave for being aggressive. I was not.
I spoke to the manager in the end and he told me it was my own fault I was overdrawn. This was from POS and it is not possible to go overdrawn, transactions were not showing on my internet banking for days on end, I was recieving goods bought on ebay from the UK before my available balance was updated.

they were not interested, i have made complaints through their phone service about the girls attitude.
Was anyone else having issues last week? i incurred a 12.70 charge for a dd I had checked that morning I had funds for. i also incurred a 4.40 charge for a POS payment I should not have been able to make. My balance (available) at the time was showing 60 euro, the payment was for less than 20.
This was as early as the Wednesday before last.

cazzak79

There sister company in uk natwest is also down so think its bigger than they are saying

Tow

cookie1977 wrote: »

Oh my god. I think I just saw a staff member of IPSO on the TV :O

She seemed think that the problem was with the Irish Clearing system!!

szjon

So RBS is where the problem is originating, funnily enough they were downgraded tonight by moodys, call me a cynic but the downgrade possibly means a margin/collateral call. 12 million accounts would cover it for a day or two.

MF Global anyone?

Northern Monkey

Does anyone know if there are issues withdrawing from foreign ATM's?

Tow

szjon wrote: »

I reported it early last week, the girl on reception laughed at me, then when i pressed the issue she asked me to leave for being aggressive. I was not.

This would be typical of the worse type of database corruption, the problems start small and slowly get worse over a period of time, until someone eventually realises they have a real mess on their hands. It would also explain why it is taking so long to fix. They would have to find out what is causing it, fix it, insure it is fixed (may be very had to reproduce), then workout when the problem initially started, restore back to that point, then reapply all changes to the database from the restore point the last backup. All the time trying to check for any errors etc. Then apply all the queued transactions, the volume of which can cause additional problems. After which the whole lot has to be tested again and if a problem is found, they may have to restart from the beginning. The final stage is to say a prayer, cross your fingers and tell the world you are open for business.

chasm

Natwest have 7.5m personal customers according to the BBC.

Did Ulster Bank put forward a spokesperson on any of the Irish News programmes?

The BBC have this clip up: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18542094

NatWest have said they are "working really hard" to fix the technical problems experienced by customers with their bank accounts and online services.
Susan Allen, from retail banking at RBS, assured customers that their money is safe, although their balances may not be being shown correctly.
She also admitted that the errors were affecting a large number of customers and were "not something we're proud of".

BuffyBot

I just don't understand technically what could have affected it on such a huge level. A company that size would have huge back ups, checks, security software.

The systems involved are massively complex, and generally quite old. Back ups exist, but that doesn't nesecarily mean the issue is something that can be fixed merely with a back up.

As has been pointed out, RBS/Ulster isn't the only bank who has had similar issues. Indeed, not that long ago, BOI had a similar issue which affected many, many people. It's a huge pain and inconvenience for all involved, customers and staff.

keystone

My company are with UB and I'm with another bank. Obviously no wages showing yet so I'm wondering if bring the payslip in with ID to my branch will allow me to get money?

On the issue itself, I'm astounded by the whole affair. I can't fathom how they could not have any business contingency in place.

Ferrakins

SSFG wrote: »

Born To Be Mild wrote: »

Sir, I tip my hat to you!

+1 hilarious would have loved to witness that!!

Twas like being back in school and being called into d Trunchbulls office, alls well that ends well though, this week's rent was paid, happy days;)

shofukan

Here's a question for you,
I checked my balance online yesterday and it showed a balance of €450.
I know however that there is really only €250 in my account as the extra €200 is a payment I made last week which doesn't seem to have been recorded.
If I spend this extra €200 and it turns out it's not actually there, is it my fault or Ulsterbank's?

Ferrakins

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18542691

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpRiSb_Ir-s

RUN!:) tic tok....

warlikedave

Ferrakins wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18542691

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpRiSb_Ir-s

RUN!:) tic tok....

Those credit ratings agencies could well do with some heavy regulation...they fuel speculation and thus higher risk speculators feed off this and thus further add to the rise of cost of servicing debt for an institution or country - no matter if you are a sovereign or bank - if the credit rating agencies target ye in any way you are truly boned...:mad::mad::mad:

T'is a Joke

My lodgement hasn't even made it into the system as of yet and most of my direct debits are due out tomorrow this is gonna be a messy month financially

ladysarastro

Just checked my AIB acc and my wages aren't in it, Think my company lodge with Ulster. Going to be a lot of unhappy campers in work today
On a side note my loan went out so my acc is €25 overdrawn. If i pay this with money from my saving account will I be ok? As in credit rating or will the money be sent back and it be put down as unpaid. Apologies if this sounds stupid but have never not had the funds there in that acc before...

RichT

From today's Indo

IT will be next week before Ulster Bank manages to fix its collapsed computer systems, resulting in further chaos for tens of thousands of customers.

The unprecedented information technology breakdown -- which has resulted in payments to thousands of people failing -- has now entered its third day.

Ulster Bank has now admitted that the problem, which is the biggest banking IT failure the country has ever seen, won't be fixed before the weekend.

Ambulance drivers, nurses and home helps were among 40,000 staff in the Health Services Executive (HSE) who were left without wages yesterday because the health body uses Ulster Bank to distribute salaries. Workers in private-sector firms were also affected.

Furious care workers jammed the phone lines in the HSE wages department after they were left facing the weekend without funds.

Anyone who gets paid weekly or fortnightly from the HSE was due to get their money yesterday but this did not happen.

And thousands more people due to be paid today also face being left without funds.

The Department of Social Protection has also confirmed that 29,100 payments it makes every week have been impacted by the IT crash.

Ulster Bank has apologised for the technical breakdown and promised to rectify it as soon as possible. It denied its systems had been hacked.

The fault means that any credits or debits to customer accounts have not been recorded since Tuesday night.

The bank said 100,000 people had been affected by the collapse, but banking experts said far more were left unable to use their bank accounts. Una Dillon of the Irish Payments Services Organisation, which arranges payments between banks, said it could be next week before the problems are rectified.

The Irish Banking Federation insisted other banks would accommodate customers who end up overdrawn because their employers use Ulster Bank to pay them.

Those hit by the IT breakdown include:

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

? People who bank with Ulster Bank and use their online bank account to pay bills.

? Irish people who work abroad but were unable to get access to their accounts.

? Ulster Bank customers may not be able to use their Laser or debit cards if the bank thinks they have no money in their account.

Arrears

Now, thousands are set to go into arrears on mortgages and not have direct debits and standing orders paid.

Chairman of the Consumers Association Michael Kilcoyne called yesterday on Ulster Bank not to impose penalties and charges on anyone who ends up overdrawn or in mortgage arrears because the IT systems crash meant records were not being updated.

The bank 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.

Ulster Bank said its automated teller machine (ATM) services will be fully operational over the weekend, and 80 branches will open until 7pm tonight to assist customers. It will have 60 branches open tomorrow morning.

- Charlie Weston Personal Finance Editor

eoinglancy

Sake, cant even log on to anytime banking, anybody spare a smoke?

touts

I'm not an Ulster Bank customer and thankfully neither is my employer so I got paid this week but this is shocking. You can be sure of a few things:
The Financial Regulator will do **** all beyond issuing a strongly worded message of sympathy.
The Government will do **** all unless it involves giving them taxpayers money for a multi-billion backup system.
The board member responsible for IT will still get his/her bonus.
The only people who will get sacked will be some bottom level tech admins.
Ulster bank will see little reduction in number of customers in Ireland because where are you going to move to if the other banks won't allow you bring your credit card balance, car loans etc with you.

vixdname

eoinglancy wrote: »

Sake, cant even log on to anytime banking, anybody spare a smoke?

I was working the night shift tonight and reckon they're working 24hrs a day to get this sorted.
I tried to get cash out of the atm in work at about 01:30am and the atm said the service wasnt available, my banking app on my phone wouldnt work either and nor is the online banking service.
Tried the atm again at 06:10am and it worked but app or online still of.
Had cash in account anyway so am ok but wages not gone in yet, should have had them on Thursday

mel.b

RichT wrote: »

From today's Indo

F*#$ although thought as much when my pay (due yesterday) wasn't in my account this morning.

misslt

Most annoying thing now is I have no idea when I will be paid. On the phone to my own bank first thing this morning asking for an overdraft :mad:

ninebeanrows

At this stage it is getting crazy, how haven't they been able to sort this yet.

They should be open till midnight not 7 so people can access their cash

Sheeps

Would this have affected Streamline settling funds for Ecom or Moto credit card transactions for merchants?

bizmark

not the best time for this with a trip comeing up in 2 weeks **** nows how ill pay for travel insurance or access money over seas with this crap going on

JABS

Sheeps wrote: »

Would this have affected Streamline settling funds for Ecom or Moto credit card transactions for merchants?

Are you asking if card transactions you have received are being credited to your account??? If so no they are all on hold too from what info I can get from my account manager

jjll

cant even get online banking so i take it not been paid