Rival banks help Ulster with one-off payments
Bank of Ireland, AIB, Permanent TSB, and National Irish Bank will allow the move for their own customers to help stave off the risk of a major crisis as a result of the Ulster computer systems problem.
The short-term payment structure means people who bank with the other firms but work for an organisation which saves with Ulster Bank will still be able to receive up to €500 of their wages from their own bank.
This is possible provided they produce official ID such as a passport and a payslip showing they were due to be paid on the day they arrive.
The same pay-cap policy is also in place for Ulster Bank customers, with amounts of €500 to €1,000 also allowed to be withdrawn at the branch manager’s discretion.
The plan was initially provided for HSE employees who were due to be paid today or Monday, and was detailed in correspondence from the HSE’s director of finance Liam Woods to health service staff at www.hse.ie.
However, last night it was believed to have been rolled out to all employees of Ulster Bank company customers who were otherwise facing the prospect of being frozen out from their salaries despite having no personal connection to the under-fire firm.
Age Action Ireland has also moved to reassure older people whose pensions have been delayed that they will be able to withdraw funds by calling to their nearest branch.
“We have been informed this morning by Ulster Bank that if pensioners need access to pension payments which have been delayed by the current problems, they can call to any Ulster Bank, with proof of identity and a recent bank statement, if they have it, and bank staff will be able to help them,” said Age Action spokesman Eamon Timmins.
State pensioners are among the 30,000 social welfare recipients affected by the glitch at the bank, while some older people are also dependent on other private or occupational pensions which are paid electronically.
Meanwhile, the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises association has “demanded assurances” from Ulster Bank management that small and medium businesses “will not be penalised” by the bank’s “computer meltdown”.
“Both Ulster Bank customers and clients of other banks will have cashflow difficulties through no fault of their own,” said a spokesperson.
“The bailed-out and rescued banks will have to cooperate to ensure that all costs are borne by the banks and not foisted on small and medium enterprise customers — the real victims of this debacle.”
ISME chief executive Mark Fielding claimed it “beggars belief a bank does not have the back-up facilities to deal with” what he controversially termed “a hacking attack”.
“In a modern economy, business depends on the banking system to at least function,” he said.
“It now seems as if not alone are the banks not lending but we cannot depend on them to transact normal business.”
“I put my card in the ATM the other day and it said it was temporarily down, but I didn’t think much of it. The same thing happened to me the next time I went to the ATM and I got a bit suspicious then. I have not been keeping up to date on the news, so I didn’t know what was going on with Ulster Bank until my father told me. I work in Brown Thomas and I had to bring my payslip into the bank to sort it out. I can see it causing trouble down the line.”
“I’m just back from Poland for the Euros and couldn’t get money from the ATM and I was not able to transfer money either. The man that I was dealing with was a little bit surprised that I didn’t know what was going on with Ulster Bank. I won’t be changing my banks or anything like that. These things happen.”
“My wages did not go through, so I rang Ulster Bank and was told to go to any branch. I have to say staff were really helpful. I did not have photo ID on me and I thought the security checking would be really extensive, but the woman I was dealing with was so nice and could see I paid into my bank regularly so she helped me as much as she could. I am lucky I got my situation sorted and it did not inconvenience me too much.”
“It’s hard to understand how anything like this can happen in this day and age. The staff are pleasant, but they are very busy. When I was in there, they were consoling a very worried lady that everything would be OK. I’m happy with my dealings with the bank though.”
“At the moment I have €400 and I was accepted to college a few days ago with €200 pending to send to them in the next few days. I’m not able to send the money though because Ulster Bank’s system is down.
“If they don’t get it fixed, I don’t get the money, so they don’t get the money, so I don’t get my place in college. The people working there were somewhat helpful, but they weren’t very understanding. They really should be working on it.”
“I was doing a course and getting paid for being there. I just woke up to this situation this morning. It really put a damper on the last day. People need to understand that young people are affected by these things too, not just businessmen. Great work from the banks yet again.”
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