Computer Failures Prompt Probe Into Banks’ IT

Following high-profile IT failures in both the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group, the financial services regulator has announced an investigation into core banking platform computer systems.

On Monday, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says it will announce the review as parts of its speech at its annual business presentation.

Main high street banking groups will have their IT systems tested for resilience and be examined for how well they manage exposure it technology-related risks.

The FCA says those found to have poor IT systems during the study are liable to be fined.

“To access and manage our money we depend on the banks’ IT systems being reliable. But IT outages continue, interrupting key banking services,” claimed Clive Adamson, director of supervision at the FCA, speaking to Sky News.

“We want to make sure that the banks have resilient IT systems in place that are able to cope with consumer demand, so customers aren’t left financially stranded or disadvantaged,” he added.

IT Issues Not Uncommon

RBS has already been under investigation for its IT systems before after failures in June and July 2012 affected customers.

Its most recent problems include issues where customers have been unable to send or receive payments.

Meanwhile, Lloyds was recently affected by a glitch which saw a number of cash machines go down for several hours.

The FCA’s investigation will be carried out alongside the Prudential Regulation Authority, a part of the Bank of England.

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