Royal Bank of Scotland customers face card glitch at checkouts and ATMs just a day after bank was fined £56m for IT fiasco

• Today's glitch left thousands struggling to use cards at ATMs and in stores
• Bank says problem had 'minimal customer impact' and only affected a few
• But customers blasted problem on Twitter as 'pathetic' and 'very poor'
• Yesterday bank was forced to pay hefty fine for its 2012 IT meltdown
• Also recently hit with £400million penalty for part in Libor-fixing scandal

By Jack Crone for MailOnline

Published: 15:10 GMT, 21 November 2014 | Updated: 15:55 GMT, 21 November 2014

Many RBS customers were left seething today after a glitch left them unable to use their credit or debit cards at store checkouts and ATMs.

The issue, which comes just one day after the bank was fined £56million for a huge IT meltdown in 2012, also affected those with sister banks NatWest and Ulster Bank.

An RBS spokesman insisted the issue only affected those attempting to make higher-value payments or transactions abroad - resulting in 'minimal customer impact'.

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Many Royal Bank of Scotland customers were left seething today after a glitch left them unable to use their cards at store checkouts and ATMs 

But many customers vented their fury on Twitter over the glitch - slamming RBS as 'pathetic' and a 'bunch of clowns' on the bank's helpline page.

One frustrated customer asked the bank: 'When can we expect a resolution to the card issue? Trying to book an emergency flight home and this is extremely time sensitive.'

Another complained on Natwest's website of payments failing to be processed.

The customer wrote: 'Did a Tesco shop yesterday, everything went through. Advised this morning by Tesco that the payment did not go through.'

The customer, who described the situation as 'very poor', said they had been told by the bank that an issue was affecting a number of Visa debit card customers.

Another customer, who registered his complaint on Twitter, said: 'Debit card transactions not working! When is this going to be resolved? Pathetic.' 

Frustration: Customers vented their fury on Twiiter this morning after finding themselves unable to use their cards at ATMs and in stores

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RBS chairman Sir Philip Hampton has said that since the 2012 IT crash, which cost the firm a £56million fine yesterday, the bank has spent hundreds of millions of pounds on increasing the resilience of its systems

The problems started at 7.45am and were resolved by 9.15am, the bank said. 

A statement from RBS said: 'A small number of customers experienced issues early this morning while using their RBS, NatWest and Ulster Visa debit and credit cards. 

'There was minimal customer impact and the issue was quickly resolved.'

Yesterday, the bank was landed with penalties totalling £56million by regulators over its huge systems crash in 2012, which also affected customers of RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank.

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Former chief executive Stephen Hester forfeited his bonus of up to £2.4million over the 2012 IT fiasco at a bank which is still 81 per cent owned by the taxpayer 

RBS chairman Sir Philip Hampton has said that since the incident, the bank has spent hundreds of millions of pounds on increasing the resilience of its IT systems.

RBS admitted to 'unacceptable weaknesses' in its computer systems as around 6.5 million customers - equivalent to 10% of the UK population - suffered disruption lasting for several weeks in some cases.

RBS BLAMED GLITCH ON DECADES OF SCRIMPING ON THEIR IT SYSTEMS

RBS bosses admitted previously they had failed to invest enough in their IT systems for decades, following a computer meltdown that hit millions of customers.

The extraordinary admission a after a string of glitches where millions of debit card cash withdrawals and purchases, some credit card transactions, plus online banking and banking via mobile phone, were blocked.

RBS chief executive Ross McEwan said the most recent systems failure was ‘unacceptable’, and admitted: ‘For decades, RBS failed to invest properly in its systems. We know we have to do better.’ 

In 2012 a junior technician in India was blamed for causing the RBS computer meltdown which froze millions of British bank accounts. 

But it later emerged it came from their Edinburgh headquarters.

They were unable to use online banking facilities or obtain accurate account balances from ATMs. Mortgage payments were delayed and customers left without cash in foreign countries.

The issues in summer 2012 stemmed from a botched upgrade to the software that processed updates to customers' accounts overnight.

When it noticed problems with the upgrade the bank's central IT function decided to uninstall it without first testing the consequences of that action.

The bank is investigating the underlying cause of today's problems, which it said are unrelated to the meltdown of two years ago.

The IT meltdown fine came just days after RBS was one of six banks fined £2.6billion for rigging the £3trillion a day foreign exchange market.

The bank was hit with a £400million penalty by UK and US regulators, with regulators publishing damning transcripts of its traders bragging about the conspiracy.

The IT failure has raised concerns about the state backed lender’s creaking computer systems which have continued to let down customers in recent years.

RBS suffered another systems outage in December on the busiest online shopping day of the year, the third time in about 18 months that such a problem had prevented customers from using cards, cash machines and online banking services.

It says it has been ploughing billions of pounds into bolstering its IT systems to help ensure that similar problems do not reoccur.

The lender recently pledged to invest an extra £1billion in its digital and IT services as it attempts to persuade more of its customers to bank online and on their mobile phones.

THE BANK THAT FELL TO EARTH: THE RISE AND DRAMATIC FALL OF RBS

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Before the 2008 financial crisis, Royal Bank of Scotland was one of the largest and most aggressive banks in the world.

The bank was founded in Edinburgh in 1727, but by the end of the 20th century it was a major player in the City of London too as the UK capital became the world's leading financial centre.

RBS sealed its place at the top table of British banking in 2000 when it bought NatWest, which dates back to 1650 and was considered one of the 'Big Four' retail banks in the UK.

Fred Goodwin, right, became chief executive of RBS the following year and pioneered a gung-ho expansion strategy with resources poured into its investment banking division.

One of the biggest deals came when RBS joined a consortium to buy Dutch bank ABN Amro for £49billion, which was later revealed as a major overvaluation.

With the advent of the 2007 credit crunch and subsequent global financial turmoil, RBS was exposed as being dangerously indebted and unable to meet its obligations.

The Labour Government felt it had no option but to step in, and in October 2008 it took a 57 per cent stake in the bank in return for £37billion of new capital.

As the bank's losses spiralled and it required even more bail-out money, the state share of the firm rose to 82 per cent.

Much of the blame for RBS's troubles was attributed to Goodwin, who was forced to resign and subsequently stripped of the knighthood he had received in 2004.

But it has repeatedly denied reports that the problems in the summer of 2012 were caused by workers in the Indian city of Hyderabad, where it set up an IT support centre to cut costs.

The results of its internal investigation into the source of the failure have yet to be published as it waits for the FCA’s verdict.

Last night one expert suggested RBS has escaped lightly.

David Buik from broker Panmure Gordon said: ‘Given the size of the trangression and the damage caused to customers this fine is nothing more than symbolic.

We are talking about a bank which could not even get the basics right - stuff that affects people in their day to day life. It’s little wonder there is a complete lack of trust between banks and their customers.’