NatWest branches open due to glitch (From Maldon and Burnham Standard)

NatWest branches open due to glitch

1:11pm Sunday 24th June 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

NatWest opened 1,200 branches on a Sunday for the first time ever as the bank looked to clear a massive backlog of payments caused by a computer failure.

Stephen Hester, chief executive of NatWest owner RBS, yesterday issued a public apology for the technical hitch and conceded the bank had let down its customers.

Around 7,000 staff were on duty in branches today but social media sites such as Twitter continued to be flooded with angry messages from customers following days of disruption.

The chaos, caused by a problem with computer software on Tuesday night, left many of its customers unable to pay bills or access their money.

Mr Hester attempted to reassure customers following mounting fears that thousands of people could be hit with penalty charges if their regular payments - including mortgages - were affected.

"I am very sorry for the difficulties people are experiencing," he said.

"Our customers rely on us day in and day out to get things right, and on this occasion we have let them down. This should not have happened.

"Right now my top priority, and the priority of the entire RBS Group, is to fix these problems and put things right for our customers.

"This is taking time, but I want to reassure people that we are working around the clock to resolve these problems as quickly as we are able."

NatWest has more than 7.5 million personal banking customers but it is unclear how many have been affected.