Print
Send to friend
RSS feedsTechnicians behind Egg and Cahoot, two of the UK's biggest internet banks, have started their investigations into what caused their websites to crash.
Last Monday was meant to be a red-letter day for both Egg, the web banking spin-off of insurance giant Prudential, and Cahoot, the rival banking subsidiary of Abbey National.
But there was huge embarrassment when computer glitches at Egg, which was making its stockmarket debut, left retail investors unable to sell the shares, while similar problems at Cahoot sent the website crashing on its first day.
The error at Egg prevented shareholders from selling their stock early in the day as the online bank's price soared to a first day peak of 190p. The shares then slid back to 177p, ending the day just 11 per cent above the opening price of 160p.
Although the problem was resolved within 20 minutes, it meant that about a third of the 85,000 retail investors had to trade through nominee accounts instead, with the rest opting for share certificates - a process that can take up to 10 days to complete.
At Cahoot, meanwhile, far more serious problems, which were thought to have been caused by thousands of online customers rushing to sign up for interest free loans, meant that the website was out of action for most of the day.
The system crashed within 90 minutes of going live, leaving thousands of frustrated would-be customers unable to open accounts.
Cahoot is still investigating what caused the crash and may seek compensation from IBM, which hosts the outsourced website.
