The inquiry will examine the ability of financial services institutions such as banks to guard against service disruptions and to put things right in the event that disruptions do occur.

Earlier this year, millions of customers were locked out of their Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland accounts. There was also a calamitous IT upgrade at TSB and the Visa card network crashed.

The Treasury Select Committee will examine whether banks can prevent any disturbance to services and if they are able to put things right if an IT failure occurs as both consumers and firms become increasingly reliant on technology.

They will also look at the extent to which operational incidents are becoming more frequent and how the prevalence of such incidents may change in future as consumers and firms come to rely more heavily on technology.

The use of multiple legacy systems is being assessed, along with the nature of their connectivity and the impact of retrofitting web-based/mobile systems to legacy systems.

Commenting on the launch of the inquiry, Nicky Morgan MP, Chair of the Treasury Committee, said: “The number of IT failures at banks and other financial institutions in recent years is astonishing. Since becoming Chair of the Committee 16 months ago, there have been problems at Equifax, TSB, Visa, Barclays, Cashplus and RBS, to name a few.

“Millions of customers have been affected by the uncertainty and disruption caused by failures of banking IT systems. Measly apologies and hollow words from financial services institutions will not suffice when consumers aren’t able to access their own money and face delays in paying bills.

“As bank branches close and customers are ushered towards online services, the availability of those services is vital. The Committee has launched this inquiry to consider the causes and consequences of these failures and will examine what industry and regulators are doing to promote operational resilience.”

In April, IT woes left up to 1.9 million people using TSB’s digital and mobile banking services locked out of their bank accounts after the bank migrated customer data from former owner Lloyds’ IT system to a new one managed by TSB’s current owner Sabadell.

Barclays’ customers struggled to log in to their accounts and get through on the phone due to technical problems in September, while RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank customers were also locked out of their mobile and online accounts.

Last year, a court case was launched against a 29-year-old man accused of perpetrating a series of cyber attacks against banks including Lloyds, Barclays and Halifax.

The inquiry will examine the ability of financial services institutions such as banks to guard against service disruptions and to put things right in the event that disruptions do occur.

Earlier this year, millions of customers were locked out of their Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland accounts. There was also a calamitous IT upgrade at TSB and the Visa card network crashed.

The Treasury Select Committee will examine whether banks can prevent any disturbance to services and if they are able to put things right if an IT failure occurs as both consumers and firms become increasingly reliant on technology.

They will also look at the extent to which operational incidents are becoming more frequent and how the prevalence of such incidents may change in future as consumers and firms come to rely more heavily on technology.

The use of multiple legacy systems is being assessed, along with the nature of their connectivity and the impact of retrofitting web-based/mobile systems to legacy systems.

Commenting on the launch of the inquiry, Nicky Morgan MP, Chair of the Treasury Committee, said: “The number of IT failures at banks and other financial institutions in recent years is astonishing. Since becoming Chair of the Committee 16 months ago, there have been problems at Equifax, TSB, Visa, Barclays, Cashplus and RBS, to name a few.

“Millions of customers have been affected by the uncertainty and disruption caused by failures of banking IT systems. Measly apologies and hollow words from financial services institutions will not suffice when consumers aren’t able to access their own money and face delays in paying bills.

“As bank branches close and customers are ushered towards online services, the availability of those services is vital. The Committee has launched this inquiry to consider the causes and consequences of these failures and will examine what industry and regulators are doing to promote operational resilience.”

In April, IT woes left up to 1.9 million people using TSB’s digital and mobile banking services locked out of their bank accounts after the bank migrated customer data from former owner Lloyds’ IT system to a new one managed by TSB’s current owner Sabadell.

Barclays’ customers struggled to log in to their accounts and get through on the phone due to technical problems in September, while RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank customers were also locked out of their mobile and online accounts.

Last year, a court case was launched against a 29-year-old man accused of perpetrating a series of cyber attacks against banks including Lloyds, Barclays and Halifax.