Nationwide apologises over ATM mix-ups

NATIONWIDE BUILDING society has apologised to more than 7,500 Northern Ireland customers after it discovered a fault which resulted in some ATM transactions not being debited from customer accounts.

The society has written to the affected customers advising that the amounts they withdrew between November last year and February 2008, but which were not taken from their accounts, will be debited on March 10th.

It has promised a sympathetic response if some customers face problems over the mistake which was not of their making. Those who may be overdrawn following the debit on March 10th will not be charged, the Nationwide has said.

The error involves transactions on ATMs operated by the Northern Bank using the Link computer connection. This follows an upgrade of Northern Bank machines in late 2007. Jay Colville, area director for the building society in the North, said there was no connection between the upgrade and the error.

The Northern Bank was not at fault and no other bank's ATMs are affected.

The problem was only discovered after a customer approached the society to make a complaint. It is estimated that those affected will pay an average of £55 per head.

"I would just like to apologise to all the customers affected. We do recognise it is our mistake," Mr Colville said. "In December, the Link organisation upgraded the ATM system.

"Unfortunately our system didn't pick that up correctly and we apologise for that," he said.

"We are going to be sympathetic to hardship cases. We won't charge people for this event."

Alison Laird of the Consumer Council said the Nationwide had provided the council with "a full briefing" which was essential if customers were to be helped.

"We can tell them what they need to do and how they need to respond. We can provide them with contact details for Nationwide. That is really important to reassure them that Nationwide will work with them to make sure that the money can go back."