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350,000 NS&I savers impacted by system glitch

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
21/02/2022

Hundreds of thousands of savers with NS&I waited months for their interest payments and Premium Bonds prizes to be paid out following a glitch amid a system upgrade.

Around 349,000 customers and £1.1bn worth of savings in Premium Bonds, Direct ISAs, Direct Savers, Income Bonds, Investment Accounts and Junior ISAs were impacted by the glitch.

NS&I – the government’s savings arm – confirmed that when its systems were updated in July 2021, the wrong dates were applied when people were investing in Direct ISAs, Direct Savers, Income Bonds, Investment Accounts and Junior ISAs between 19 July and 29 September 2021.

In some cases, this was between one and five days after the investment.

NS&I said this issue has now been resolved, with accounts automatically updated with the correct investment date and any interest payments have been backdated.

Further, Income Bonds customers have had any interest due to them paid as part of either their January or February dividend payment.

What about Premium Bonds holders?

The issue with Premium Bonds also related to a date glitch and meant there were 999 prizes due to customers whose bonds weren’t entered into the correct first draw in which they became eligible. These prizes have a total value of £27,175.

Here, affected Premium Bonds customers who invested at the end of a month may have become eligible for a prize draw a month later than intended.

NS&I said retrospective prize checks have been run on the affected bonds, and customers will be notified in writing of any prize wins, which will be paid via their preferred payment method.

NS&I will also be paying 8% interest on any prizes due.