Hit or Miss?: RBS under fire after software glitch causes banking meltdown

Chief executive Stephen Hester issued a public apology for the fiasco, and said the firm would compensate customers who were out of pocket.

HOW I SEE IT - TONY LANGHAM, CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE, LANSONS COMMUNICATIONS

You only have to see the customer outcry to judge that RBS/NatWest's performance is a miss.

Yes, such problems could floor any business and much of what RBS has done has been good. Stephen Hester remains a good television performer, and he apologised and made it clear customers would be recompensed.

But RBS has permanently appeared to be playing catch-up and, crucially, not in control. It has not convinced many customers it cares enough about the hardship caused.

For all banks it means more intrusive questions about their IT systems and disaster recovery plans. The silver lining is that it has reminded us that something we take for granted - management of our money - is actually quite a service.

MISS