Ulster Bank’s compensation Scheme ‘an insult’ - McGlone
Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 1st August 2011 - Picture by Jonathan Porter/ PressEye.com - SDLP MLA for Mid-Ulster Patsy McGlone announces he will be contending for the SDLP leadership. Patsy McGlone pictured art his office on WIlliam Street in Cookstown.
“Totally insufficient and will do little to reimburse the thousands of personal and business customers who were left out of pocket due to their system failure” - The SDLP’s indictment of the Ulster Bank’s compensation scheme following the month-long IT meltdown.
Mid Ulster MLA Patsy McGlone, who has met senior Ulster Bank officials urging them to fully restitute customers, said: “When was the last time the bosses at Ulster Bank got a taxi? £20 is a miserly amount of money that wouldn’t get anyone too far and is an insult to those customers who were left short due the bank’s failure.
“How this is meant to compensate for their waiting time, let alone their journeys for multiple visits to the bank is beyond me.
“Many unanswered questions still remain. For instance a lot more clarity is required on what restitution packages are available for people who are not Ulster Bank customers but were left out of pocket due to their system breakdown, such as employees of their business customers who encountered a delay in their wages; or other companies that lost income while awaiting payments from Ulster Bank business customers?
“Customers in Northern Ireland suffered most due to RBS’ technical failures and it essential that they are given assurances that the company’s IT structure is going to be improved so as to avoid the reoccurrence of such a crisis in the future.
“This crisis has not only caused reputational damage to the bank, but it has also impacted upon people’s perceptions of cashless banking and a lot will need to be done to ensure customer confidence in this system again.
“This whole debacle has also been very difficult for local Ulster Bank workers and it is essential that the bosses at the company do all they can to restore staff morale while providing their personal and business customers with a better compensation package.”
The Ulster Bank announced on Friday that it will reimburse all of what it terms “reasonable out-of-pocket expenses” resulting from the major disruption which affected thousands of customers over the summer because of a major computer failure over the summer.
It will be refunding charges placed on people’s accounts in error and customers will receive £20 if they visited the bank from 19 June-18 July and made a transaction - a payment for inconvenience caused.
Others who were inconvenienced but did not visit the bank during that period are being urged to contact their local branch and explain how they were affected.
Chief Executive Jim Brown said he would forego his bonus for 2012 as he again apologised for the disruption.
He said: “Once again, I apologise unreservedly to our customers and customers of other banks for the inconvenience this has caused and thank them for their patience as we worked to resolve this issue.
“We recognise that we have work to do to restore our customers’ trust in us and we believe that this is the first step in that direction.
“We have worked with our key stakeholders to ensure the additional measures which we are taking provide a comprehensive response to customer concerns and demonstrate our commitment to making amends.”
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Sunday 19 May 2013
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