Nearly half of UK households say that they would struggle to cope if their monthly outgoings rose by £99. We look at how you can create some financial 'breathing space' to help you out if you lose your job or become ill.
Banks 'have fixed' account problems
Nationwide and NatWest both said they have fixed separate IT hitches which caused more financial chaos for customers this week.
Nationwide has apologised to customers following a technical hitch
Nationwide and NatWest both said they have fixed separate IT hitches which caused more financial chaos for customers this week.
The problems left nearly three-quarters of a million customers of Britain's biggest building society, Nationwide, out of pocket after debit card payments were taken from their accounts twice.
Nationwide said it has corrected the mistakes overnight and has promised to reimburse anyone who has incurred extra charges as a direct result.
In another blow to customers, NatWest, which is still rebuilding its customer reputation after a huge IT meltdown last month, saw its online service freeze for several hours on Thursday, leaving customers locked out of their accounts, while some also had problems using debit cards.
Jenny Groves, divisional director for customer experience at Nationwide, said: "We are pleased to confirm that all debit card transactions processed twice have now been successfully corrected.
"Once again we wish to apologise to those customers affected. We have waived all charges and are in the process of refunding any costs associated with our error. Please be assured that none of our customers will suffer financial loss as a result of this."
The building society said a "human error" meant that Visa debit card payments made on Tuesday were duplicated on Wednesday. A Visa spokeswoman said its systems had been working correctly.
NatWest's latest problems come just weeks after its IT chaos which stopped people's accounts updating properly and prompted chief executive Stephen Hester to forgo his bonus this year. The bank said on Thursday night its online banking and debit transactions had returned to normal following the new hitch.
NatWest said that the latest problems were not related to last month's chaos and were caused by a "hardware failure" in one of its technology centres.
A spokesman said: "We continue to monitor the situation closely and apologise for any inconvenience caused. We will, of course, ensure that no customer is left out of pocket as a result."
related stories on msn
2Comments
16/08/2012 18:12
Are people supposed to be extremely grateful that Stephen Hester has declined his bonus this year he has failed miserably he is not entitled to one but just like the rest of these scum bag bankers he wii get his bonus through a different channel . And i like the way they think an apology makes it ok we make mistakes and they cripple us in the pocket people like Fred Goodwin Bob Diamond and all the rest of them low life bankers should be lined up and shot .
12/08/2012 11:47
Report
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
latest money videos
more on msn money
Avoid these mistakes if you want to lead a richer life!
Save regularly to nab a leading easy access ISA rate from Newcastle Building Society and the chance to earn up to £1,000 cashback.
Barclaycard is now offering a record 27 interest-free months to pay off your debts.
The taxman says three and a half million people are due a refund, but two million will have to fork out for underpaid tax.
Fed up with low savings rates and high borrowing rates? As Dave Fishwick and his Bank of Dave has demonstrated, there are other options out there.
If you want to find a unique property bargain, there is plenty of help available online - you just need to know where to look.
US couple have found an innovative solution to the problem of sky-high house prices.
The two banks have now joined the Post Office's banking network, meaning customers can make withdrawals and deposits at branches around the UK.
Get 5p off per litre of fuel at Shell, broadband from £2 a month and more in our latest discount and freebie round-up.
Lifestyling is supposed to mean that your pension pot becomes more secure the nearer you get to retirement. Yet your pension provider might be switching you to overpriced and therefore riskier investments.
If you want to borrow a larger sum of money and repay it over time, a conventional personal loan is not always your best option.
