RBS braced for £50m fine over 2012 IT systems failure
RBS is today expected to receive a fine over its systems failures, which left millions of customers unable to spend or transfer money.
The fine comes more than two years after the 2012 crash which watchdogs are investigating, and is expected to come to around £50m.
City regulators have been investigating the 2012 failures, but it is not the only time the bank’s aging IT systems have seized up – they also hit problems last December at the height of the Christmas shopping rush.
Part of the problem comes from the patchwork of systems in use at the bank, which are a result of a series of acquisitions and mergers over recent decades. Chief executive Ross McEwan joined the bank last Autumn, and has said the IT infrastructure is now a priority, after years of neglect.
The £50m fine, which was first reported by Sky News, will not be the biggest cost associated with the crash. On top of the work to improve the systems, the bank set aside £175m to compensate customers who lost out in the systems problems, and to pay staff overtime as they cleared the backlog.
RBS’ shares were up 0.58 per cent yesterday.