NatWest denies claims of Microsoft involvement in network crash

NatWest has played down the impact of its retail banking network crash, despite reports that Microsoft and IBM sent teams of specialists into the bank to help track down the problem.

A spokesman for NatWest insisted that the problem had been exaggerated. He claimed it resulted from the installation of new software at branches on Tuesday night.

Although he admitted the network had suffered problems, he said that switching to contingency software restored the network. He added that the problem was within NatWest's own software.

Some customers were still suffering delays on Wednesday, but the bank was working to clear up the last of the problems, according to NatWest. The spokesman denied that Microsoft had sent in a special trouble shooting team: "We have people from Microsoft working with us all the time - no one extra was involved," he said.