Record €3.5m fine for Ulster Bank over IT failure

Ulster Bank has been hit with the biggest fine ever imposed by the Central Bank for an IT failure that left hundreds of thousands of customers without basic banking functions for almost a month two years ago.

The bank has been handed a €3.5m fine by the Central Bank and has been reprimanded in relation to IT and governance failings that resulted in approximately 600,000 customers being deprived of essential banking services over a 28-day period during June and July 2012.

The failure, according to the Central Bank, threatened confidence in the operation of the retail banking sector and caused customers unacceptable inconvenience as they were prevented from carry out the most basic banking functions, including accessing cash from ATMs.