RBS hit by IT failure on mobile app Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was hit by another IT failure on Friday morning that left customers unable to access their accounts through the mobile banking app. Two million customers at the taxpayer-backed bank, which includes NatWest, have the app on smartphones and tablet computers, and many took to Twitter to seek answers as to why they were unable to use it to check their accounts. It follows an IT debacle last summer when millions of people suffered the knock-on effects of a software upgrade that froze the bank's systems, stopping all payments in and out of accounts. The glitch cost the bank £175m in costs and compensation. The setback is the latest bump in the road for RBS, which is 81 per cent publicly owned, as hopes rise that it can soon be returned to the private sector after being rescued at the height of the financial crisis. A Which? spokesperson said: "Consumers increasingly use mobile banking services to access their accounts and will want to be assured that their money is accessible and safe at all times. These frequent glitches continue to raise questions about how robust and reliable banks" IT systems are." The bank's customers described how they had tried to access the app but were told there was no internet connection. One asked: "Why is my RBS app not working? All I want to do is check if I got paid. Another said he had been logged out in the middle of a transaction. He received a response from RBS apologising and telling him to "try again later." RBS Help responded on Twitter saying: "We're aware of some issues on our mobile banking service and are working hard to fix them. Sorry and thanks for your patience. The RBS press office Twitter feed said: "We are sorry customers are experiencing problems with our mobile banking app. We are working to restore service. An bank spokesman said the app was working again later in the morning.