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MPs demand action over rise in online bank crashes

Source: BBC

MPs have condemned the level of IT failures at banks, warning that financial levies on firms and more regulation may be needed.

A Treasury Committee report said the frequency of online banking crashes and customer disruption was "unacceptable".

The report, published on Monday, said with bank branches and cash machines closing, there was greater urgency to ensure online banking worked.

Major banks typically suffer more than 10 online outages a month.

Customers are being left "cashless and cut off", the report said. Firms could do much more to ensure their IT systems were resilient and to resolve complaints and compensation more quickly.
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Comments

  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 35,137 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    The full report is at https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201920/cmselect/cmtreasy/224/224.pdf but it does seem to be an exercise in stating the obvious and all smacks a bit of:
    8b0b844a4f5d35d2519c50b5205bb12d.jpg

    The banks are required to report incidents to the FCA, who collate and publish the data at https://www.fca.org.uk/data/mandated-voluntary-information-current-account-services#personal
  • I find it hard to believe that "Major banks typically suffer more than 10 online outages a month". But then according to committee report "Many incidents experienced by firms are relatively minor, and often do not impact customers."


    I have over a dozen current accounts and very rarely have any problems.
    I work within the voluntary sector, supporting vulnerable people to rebuild their lives.

    I love my job

    :smiley:
  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 35,137 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I find it hard to believe that "Major banks typically suffer more than 10 online outages a month". But then according to committee report "Many incidents experienced by firms are relatively minor, and often do not impact customers."
    This is one of the reasons why I prefer to get to the underlying data rather than attention-grabbing tabloidy headlines, although even with the ten being an industry-wide figure rather than per bank (which could be inferred from the use of 'typically') it's still nothing to be proud of.

    https://www.fca.org.uk/data/mandated-voluntary-information-current-account-services/interpreting-data explains the criteria for evaluating whether incidents are serious enough to be reportable to the FCA as 'major' (according to the PSD2 definition), so inevitably there will be plenty of others that don't meet this threshold, i.e. the bolded statements aren't inconsistent....
  • Peter999_2
    Peter999_2 Posts: 1,159 Forumite
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    Just wait until next April when the banks have got rid of all PSC contractors. It's going to be a disaster zone.
  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 35,137 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Peter999 wrote: »
    Just wait until next April when the banks have got rid of all PSC contractors. It's going to be a disaster zone.
    Perhaps the treasury select committee will call HMRC in for a grilling - "left hand, meet right hand; right hand, meet left hand".... ;)
  • colsten
    colsten Posts: 17,597 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Seventh Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    If you didn't know better, you could think there's an election coming :rotfl:

    Banker-bashing will go down well with many voters, so why not have this in your MP battle kit? It detracts nicely from real issues, such as Social Care, NHS waiting times, Housing, and the dreaded B word.
  • pinkdalek
    pinkdalek Posts: 1,355 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts
    I'm not being funny MPs but really it's about time you stopped acting like spoilt brats, sorted out the mess of a country you have created first and then start thinking about this when you've earnt some respect.
  • born_again
    born_again Posts: 18,277 Forumite
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    One of the biggest issue in the last year...

    Oh yea, it was the Visa problem.
    Not anything any bank had control over. How they going to do anything about something like that?

    Banks core systems need to be totally revamped, but look what happens when one does it... So all they will do is update the staff front end and customer face. But the real problem is the back end where so many systems are dating back to the last century.

    Forget the costs involved. It is the time taken to replace the core system and test them that is the problem.
    We see system updates on a regular basis. Yet each brings new issues with other systems. Mainly because cost cutting has seen all the old system experts got paid off and the new guys have not got a clue what their actions may or may not do, do to so many different systems interacting with each other.
    Life in the slow lane
  • Stenwold
    Stenwold Posts: 198 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    It would be interesting to see whether there is a correlation between the number of banks suffering with IT outages and the changes to online security that the regulators are enforcing.
  • I'm going to take a contrarian position here and say that I agree. IT infrastructure is an area where the main banks can, and should, be doing much better. Let me put it this way: if airports used the outdated, creaking IT systems banks do, planes would be crashing into the ground or colliding midair on a daily basis. If hospitals used the same systems, people would be dying in droves. But in the case of banking... cheer up, it's "only" people's life savings and daily living costs at stake.



    Yes, I understand that banking IT systems are based on very old, well-understood, industry-standardised technology and security is more important than slick functionality. But approaching the third decade of the 21st century, it it too much to ask that our systems be both secure AND work reliably? There is clear room for infrastructure improvement, and my guess is that because it's not considered particularly sexy by upper management, shareholders or customers, the can has been kicked down the road for decades.
    : )
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