Watchdog received very few complaints over bank fiasco

The Financial Services Ombudsman has received very few complaints about the three weeks of interruptions experienced by Ulster Bank customers.

Despite the bank’s technical collapse causing chaos for consumers, a spokesperson for the ombudsman said that “the number of complaints we have logged is very, very, low”.

The Financial Services Ombudsman is one of the only routes that consumers can pursue in order to receive compensation from the bank for distress caused by its inability to allow customers to access their own money.

“If we find that a consumer has suffered due to a bank’s maladministration we can order that compensation up to €250,000 be paid,” the spokesperson said.

Compensation for customers inconvenienced by Ulster Bank’s outage was first mentioned when chief executive Jim Brown appeared before the Oireachtas finance committee to explain the outage.

No details on any compensation package for customers have emerged yet.

“Compensation is currently under review; however, we are committed to ensuring that no one will be left permanently out of pocket as a result of this issue,” the spokesperson said.

The director of consumer protection at the Central Bank, Bernard Sheridan, said the regulator “will push the bank” on restitution.

Ulster Bank has moved to apologise to customers who were double charged as the bank attempted to update account balances. “As we work to restore normal service, some customers may have noticed duplicate transactions on their accounts. We apologise for this and can assure customers that this is being rectified and that all duplicate postings will be reversed.”

The bank said it was making good progress in restoring customers’ balances. The majority of account balances for customers are now showing as they should.

The bank admits some items such as cheques and manual lodgments have yet to be processed.