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Well once again the country is hurt by the banks - what happened this weekend ? How in hell did we have a meltdown with the banks? They say a glitch ? So a glitch takes down most of the bank and affects countless customers - Ive never seen a branch open on a sunday before and we had countless branches open - nice that they stepped up to help the poor customer but it was their mistake in the first place.

I wonder how many people this will affect through missed payments and such. the hardship experianced.

So how can we be put in this position - how can something as simple as a glitch take out such a large part of a bank ?

Or are we seeing the effects of the cuts and downsizing of the bank after the near collapse ? not enough back office staff where it matters?

Possible silver lining.....banks open on a Sunday as the norm.....

Possible hack!!!

I am a Nat West business and private customer and what happened is a hazard which lurks all the time in these enormous data systems. Just be thankful it doesn't happen on a bigger scale because we'll all be in the SHIT!

It is scary - we are at the mercy of technology that has not been tested through all scenarios - the big one we all fear is the sun - its not talked about that often as its known there aint much that can be done to protect. Microchips due to the miniturisation employed just cant cope with fields generated when we have a solar storm of significant strength. Our power transmittion systems they all use protective relays that are chip based so when those get affected our grid fails.

We have back up systems ? Dont we ? well yes we do but as the sun storm affects electronics and such then well there is a good chance that our back ups would be affected. if that realy that starts the generator is fried then there is a good chance that it wont send that signal out.

Anyways I dont think that the bank was hacked - the process that failed I believe from the intranet wasnt involved with the online but more of a back office function. I wonder if we will ever find out what happened here.

I would strongly encourage any Nat West customer to get your own back (once they have re-found your money) and leave them !

With my electronic engineering hat on, I agree. The Carrington incident of 1859 caused havoc with the early telegraph systems on the east coast of America. If it happened now we would be fucked.





I recall reading somewhere that at the height of the cold war some aircraft radar and radio systems continued using thermionic valves instead of semiconductors as protection against ionising radiation.

I couldn't agree more Dave.
I sacked Barclays years ago after they mistakenly charged me an o/draft fee + 3 months charges when I wasn't o/drawn.
I moved to a building society and have never had any problems whatsoever, and they give customers preferential insurance rates.

This "glitch" within a certain banking group is just the tip of the "fuck up" iceberg that I've been ranting against in other forums and on Facebook, Twitter etc.

Take a look at your mobile phone... I bet most of you use it not only to make calls, but to send texts, emails, surf the net, take photos, listen to music... even maybe play games! In fact, I wouldn't mind betting that for many of you, making/receiving phone calls is probably third or fourth in the list of tasks for which you employ your phone.

Barclays are now allowing their customers to use their mobile phones like a glorified debit card. You can withdraw cash from a Nat West account at an ATM without your card so long as you have your mobile phone and can remember your password.

Soon every bank will be encouraging us to use our "smart phones" to organise our finances, and to use them as an alternative to cash and debit cards.

Where will this madness end?

Will our mobile phone eventually become our de facto passport/ID card?

There are many things for which we must thank modern technology, BUT, we have now become such slaves to it that we no longer think "should we do it?" but "can we do it?"

At first, the internet helped porn producers promote their product to an ever increasing market-place... one which they may never have reached by other means. Yet advances in technology now mean that many of those producers are no longer able to make a living because there is so much "free stuff" available. While one group profited from the technological advances, that same group has now almost been put out of business by further advances.

Our high streets are dead, not just because of giant Tescos and Sainsburys, but also because of Amazon and the like.

Once we allow a device that was originally designed as a mobile phone to rule our lives by also being our wallet, our ID, etc, then I believe we have not only stared into the precipice, but have actually fallen into it with no hope of ever returning to safe ground.

Next time you change your mobile phone, say to the guy in the shop, "have you got one that's just a phone? No music, no camera, no web browser... just a phone? Because I don't TRUST where all this technology is leading us"

If we don't say "enough is enough" NOW, tomorrow it will be too late!

Our high streets are dead, not just because of giant Tescos and Sainsburys, but also because of Amazon and the like.

Noooooooooo ! you have the wrong end of the stick here - they are dead because they have not moved with the times. who wants to piss about a street buying things and wasting time ? drive in and park or take the train in costs money and your doing something that wastes your time -

Id rather go on the net and buy and have it sent to my house, neat and to the point Ive got time back that id have spent going to town.

use a phone to pay for items this could develop to an automated POS tool - phones have cameras ? well you scan an eye and then you have biometric confirmation - If someone stole your phone would need to hack an eyeout for it to be of use.

its the way forward. if we can crack and make purchasing secure then we can kiss goodbuy to shops - waste of time and space anyways