'Major technical issue' behind pay delay

Work has been ongoing to try to get to the bottom of a problem which left thousands of Ulster Bank customers without access to their cash, but the issue remains unresolved.

The bank confirmed on Thursday evening that it was continuing to experience "a major technical issue".

Customers have been affected by a one-day delay in processing certain payments.

Many remain concerned about the knock-on effects of not being able to withdraw funds, pay bills on time, or of inadvertently finding themselves "in the red".

We appreciate that this is having significant impact on many of our customers and customers of other banks and we apologise unreservedly for this.

Ulster Bank

Ulster Bank has apologised unreservedly and says it's trying to minimise the impact.

"We will be keeping approximately 80 Ulster Bank branches open tomorrow until 7pm in major towns and cities, to assist customers who are unable to get to their branch during working hours," a spokesman said.

"Our 60 Saturday opening branches will open as usual this weekend. ATM and Anytime Internet Banking services are fully operational but are reflecting the one-day delay in customers' balances."

The issue has resulted in a backlog of payments to be processed, which means some payments may be delayed for up to 24 hours until Friday 22 June.

A number of angry and anxious customers contacted UTV in the wake of the problem being discovered.

"People may be relying on this money to pay for vital items such as transport and food," Antoinette McKeown, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council, said.

"The Consumer Council strongly recommends that anyone who needs to either access cash today, is worried about going overdrawn, or meeting agreed payments, visit or telephone their nearest Ulster Bank branch to put special arrangements in place until the error is resolved.

"The Consumer Council acknowledges the commitment given by Ulster Bank but intends to monitor this situation so that the bank ensures no customer loses out as a result of this error."

Ulster Bank has stated that charges incurred as a result of the issue will be fully refunded.

It is estimated that around 100,000 people have been affected.