Digital age is not foolproof

The Ulster Bank/RBS crisis was an IT disaster waiting to happen, writes Eamonn Walsh

THE Ulster Bank computer glitch highlights the importance of advanced computer systems in our daily lives and just how badly things can go wrong.

The failure of the software upgrade created two problems for Natwest, RBS, and its Irish operation, Ulster Bank — the first was the lack of access for millions of customers to their money, the second was the massive backlog once the glitch was cleared. After just three days, that backlog was more than 100m transactions — that gives you an idea of the scale of the problem.