The clearing of a backlog of payments resulting from a technical glitch at Ulster Bank is taking longer than expected and may not be resolved until the end of the week, the bank said.
The problem since Wednesday has affected about 100,000 customers and Ulster Bank is extending its opening hours again today, at about 80 branches, from 9.30am until 6pm. Customers calling into the bank’s branches are asked to bring their account details and identification with them.
Ulster Bank’s help desk is also open, from 8am to 10pm, at 1800 205 100.
The bank said a corrupted software upgrade to the payment-processing system caused the original technical problem.
The glitch has disrupted salary transfers, direct debits and social welfare payments, causing a delay in processing certain payments to bank accounts. The bank said it is continuing to work “around the clock” to clear the backlog of payments.
“We appreciate that this technical issue is having a significant impact on many of our customers, their businesses and the customers of other banks and we unreservedly apologise for this,” Ulster Bank said this morning.
“We recognise this is an unacceptable inconvenience and we want to reassure our customers that if they experience bank charges as a result of this issue they will be refunded. Once again we would like to unreservedly apologise.”
