Ulster Bank to pay millions in compensation

The head of Royal Bank of Scotland's Irish unit said it will pay out "tens of millions" of euros in compensation following a computer systems fiasco, which will be fully resolved within the next few weeks, CEO Jim Brown said on Monday.
 
"It's going to be a considerable sum of money, it will be in the tens of millions," Brown, who waived his bonus a fortnight ago, told state broadcaster RTE 
 
It has taken the bank nearly a month to resolve a computer glitch, which saw salaries fail to appear in accounts, holidaymakers unable to access cash at overseas ATMs and customers' household bills go unpaid.

It has been a public relations disaster for the bank, Ireland's third-largest lender, which like its UK sister bank NatWest, battled to get on top of a huge backlog of failed payments. 

Brown said while its systems are now running normally, there remains issues with duplicated transactions and it will take several weeks before all issues with customers' accounts are fully resolved.

The bank is in talks with the regulator about a package of compensation measures including refunding fees, addressing credit records and compensating customers for general inconvenience. 

Brown declined to comment on the details of the compensation package.