CUSTOMERS at a high street bank have been left furious after being accused of a technical fault twice.
People have complained to Co-operative Bank that some small business account holders have been charged twice.
One angry customer on X, formerly Twitter, complained they were “nearly £5,000 down on this and no resolution in sight”.
It’s unclear how many accounts were affected by the glitch.
The bank apologized to users on X.
Under one user’s post, he replied: “Our sales team is aware of duplicate historical transactions and is working to resolve this as quickly as possible.
“I apologize for the inconvenience and concern this has caused,” it added.
The Co-op Bank website says it has about 96,000 small business customers and 3.1 million retail customers.
One person claiming to be a customer posted that they “have a lot of duplicate transactions from a few months ago.”
Another wrote: “Can someone responsible please tell us what happened to our trading account?
“We’ve had an overdraft all day and we’re still waiting to hear from you.
A third wrote: “Absolute confusion regarding duplicate historical transactions being removed from customer accounts without informing you.
“Thousands of £ from people’s accounts without informing customers. Tell us how it will be resolved?”
The Co-op Bank said in a statement: “We are aware that there are a small number of SME account holders who have duplicate payments on their balances and are in the process of rectifying this issue.
“We apologize for any inconvenience caused and are supporting customers during this period.”
How can I change bank accounts?
SWITCHING bank accounts is a simple process and can usually be done through the Current Account Switching Service (CASS).
Dozens of major banks and building societies are registered – the full list is on the CASS website.
As part of the change service, switching banks should take seven working days.
When you move, you don’t have to remember to transfer direct debits, because it will be done for you.
Just apply for the new account you want and the new bank will tell your existing one that you’re moving.
However, there are a few things you can do before you switch, including choosing a switch date and transferring any old bank statements to your new account.
You should contact your existing bank for any old statements.
When changing your current account, consider what other benefits joining a specific bank or building society can bring.
Some banks offer 0% overdrafts up to a certain limit and others may offer better rates on savings accounts.
And some banks offer free travel insurance or mobile phone insurance with their current accounts – but these accounts may come with a monthly fee.
What are my rights if I am charged twice?
It is not yet clear how customers will be reimbursed.
It pays to gather evidence of any problems so that you can make a formal complaint directly to the bank if necessary.
Note the fees you had to pay for the defect and any other costs you incurred.
This may include overdraft fees or declined payment fees if you do not have enough cash in your account to cover the account or payment.
If your credit rating has been affected, for example, by being hit with a late payment fee after you were unable to complete a transaction, you should also keep a record of this.
If you spoke to someone to try to resolve the problem, note their name and when you spoke with them, as well as roughly what you discussed and what they advised you.
You can file a complaint with the Co-op bank at a branch or online.
Think about how much you expect to be compensated and when you expect to receive it, and include that in your complaint.
Do you have a money problem that needs to be solved? Contact us by email at money-sm@news.co.uk.
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