RBS says debit card issues have been resolved

RBS (LSE: RBS.L - news) has said it has resolved debit card issues that affected its customers and also those who bank with Natwest and Ulster Bank.

Thousands of people were finding their cards were being declined when they attempted to make purchases on Friday.

In a tweet, RBS said: "Our debit cards are now working as normal. We apologise if you experienced difficulties this afternoon."

It is thought the problems were with sterling transactions at both point of sale - that is, transactions in stores using a merchant's card terminal - and online.

ATMs and online banking services were unaffected.

It is not the first time a banking glitch and a number of IT meltdowns have caused embarrassment for the group.

In January, Natwest and RBS customers reported debit cards being declined at the tills and pins blocked on New Year's Day.

Last September, customers could not withdraw cash or use their card in branches.

A few months earlier in June 2015, many were left without money for a weekend after 600,000 transactions were delayed.

RBS also suffered a software meltdown in the summer of 2012.

Millions of people were locked out of their online bank accounts for a while, which RBS blamed on a cyber attack.

It led to the bank being handed a fine of £56m by regulators.