Sandra Overend MLA, the Ulster Unionist Party’s Finance spokesperson has described the latest technical glitch to affect the Ulster Bank as extremely bad news for the bank, its customers and its staff.
Mrs Overend said;
“Last night’s technical difficulties which prevented Ulster Bank customers from accessing their money were absolutely the last thing which the Bank, its customers, or the hard working front line staff needed.
“In October 2012 Ulster Bank officials appeared before the Assembly’s Enterprise committee to explain the technical difficulties which had prevented customers from accessing accounts that summer, and the bank’s chief executive Jim Brown said that the that the incident was indeed “a major disaster” for the bank.
“The summer 2012 difficulties lasted for a number of weeks and severely inconvenienced tens of thousands of customers and businesses who rely on the bank, resulting in at least £18 million of compensation being paid out to 300,000 customers in Northern Ireland. I said at the time that Ulster Bank should be in no doubt that they had a massive rebuilding job to do to regain the trust and confidence of their customers never mind the wider public.
“Last night’s difficulties, although not on the scale of previous problems, will nonetheless have proved frustrating and embarrassing for many customers and will certainly do nothing to enhance the confidence of both customers and the wider public in the Ulster Bank brand.”