MILLIONS of bank customers have been exposed to disruption and distress by failures and breaches to IT systems, the head of a powerful government committee has said.

Andrew Tyrie MP, Chairman of the Treasury Committee, has written to regulators to urge them to act to safeguard the resilience and security of IT systems in financial services.

The committee are to publish letters correspondence with the CEOs of major banks including the Royal Bank of Scotland, on the issue.

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Mr Tyrie said:“Banks continue to suffer failures and breaches of their IT systems, exposing millions of customers to uncertainty, disruption and sometimes distress.

"We can’t carry on like this. Responsibility for sound IT systems is often lacking at the highest levels of management, and ultimately customers pay the price.

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“Customers remain more exposed than necessary to the risks of IT failures, including delays in paying bills and an inability to obtain access to their own money. The proliferation of remote and online banking, including the use of biometric data for customer identification, may also be increasing the risk of unauthorised access to their accounts. A great deal of work still needs to be done. So I have written today to the FCA and the PRA for further assurances that they are getting on with it.”