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Revealed: which banks have had the most IT glitches?

NatWest customers are among the latest to suffer problems with online banking - REUTERS
NatWest customers are among the latest to suffer problems with online banking - REUTERS

Customers are regularly being denied access to their online accounts, telephone banking and mobile apps as banks suffer repeated services problems.

While the beleaguered TSB attracted much criticism for its IT fiasco earlier this year, other banks have also had to contend with major systems issues.

On Friday, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) became the latest banks to suffer failures in their mobile and online banking services. This was a day after Barclays’ online, mobile and telephone services crashed, leaving customers without access to their accounts for several hours.

The biggest banks and building societies are now legally obliged by the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), to publish details of how many “major operational and security incidents” they have suffered in a given quarter.

Banks published the first updates last month as required, covering April to June, but the FCA has not set strict rules on disclosure and many results are tucked away on little-read web pages. By contrast, the Competition & Markets Authority makes banks display their customer approval levels in every branch.

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Telegraph Money has compiled the published data and found that more than 100 incidents were reported in the second quarter of 2018. Lloyds Banking Group suffered the higher number of service problems between April and June, with 19 issues affecting its Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Lloyds Bank brands.

Barclays suffered 18 major operational and security problems while NatWest and RBS faced 11 incidents. Each of the banks said the majority of problems were solved quickly and that they continued to invest in new systems. 

Metro Bank, Virgin Money and Yorkshire Bank were among the providers to register zero incidents.

Rivals take aim at TSB

TSB reported seven incidents in the three-month period, which included its infamous IT meltdown. This means it recorded fewer problems than some rivals.

However, competitors privately criticised the way the data was compiled, arguing that the scale of TSB’s outages was not apparent from the figures. TSB said its customer service levels had improved in recent months and it hoped to reintroduce a full range of services to new and existing customers soon.

Martyn James of Resolver, a consumer campaign group, said banks continued to let customers down with inadequate service.

“Behind the shiny exterior of online banking and phone apps lies a banking system that’s creaking and ageing in some places,” he said.

“As Telegraph Money’s research has shown, there are still far more breakdowns, systems failures and errors than there should be – and it’s clear that banks need to focus their attention and resources on security as their number one priority.”

Mr James urged anyone who had been left without vital banking services to make a claim to their provider for any loss incurred, plus compensation for time wasted. However, he said payments were likely to be small.

“Banks tend to offer a ‘gesture of goodwill’ to persistent complainants, but this is largely symbolic – around £30,” he said. “I’d still encourage people to complain though. The more people who make a complaint, the more banks will have to address the problem.”

adam.williams@telegraph.co.uk