Having endured an anxious wait to withdraw money from Northern Rock, Irish customers of the troubled bank now find they have been paid on the double.
A number of savers have discovered in recent days they were credited with twice the amount they actually withdrew because of internal errors made during the UK bank's attempts to clear a backlog of withdrawals.
One saver told The Irish Timeshe waited five days to withdraw a six-figure sum from his Northern Rock account, only to find a second sum for the same amount lodged to his current account the following morning.
Brian Kavanagh, manager of the bank's Irish operations, confirmed that "a handful" of customers had received two payments. In some cases, customers had called in person to collect a withdrawal cheque from the bank's only Irish office near Harcourt Street, in Dublin, but a cheque was also sent to them in the post.
In other cases, customers who made repeated efforts to withdraw money electronically ended up with two withdrawals. One joked on the financial website www.askaboutmoney.com that Northern Rock was now his favourite bank now that it was doubling customers' money.
Customers have been told to return the money electronically, by cheque or by calling into the bank's office.
Mr Kavanagh said the queues of people withdrawing money from the bank earlier in the week were completely gone. While the branch was still busy, many customers were coming in to wish his staff well or re-lodge money, he claimed.
"It's a mixed bag. We have people still taking out money because they need it for a specific purpose and we have people saying they want to put their money back in."
Yesterday, for the first time, it was possible to log on to the bank's website or ring its Dublin office without incurring lengthy delays.
Mr Kavanagh declined to say how much of the €2.3 billion in Irish savers' funds had been withdrawn during the past week, saying he was precluded from doing so under the rules of the London Stock Exchange.
His staff of 31, together with additional staff drafted in from the UK, were still dealing with a small backlog of customers, he said.
Asked how long the British government's guarantee of funds in Northern Rock would remain in place, he said it was not time-limited.
Mr Kavanagh admitted the bank's website and office had been deluged during the week, but said it made no attempt to restrict access to the site or to customers' funds.
"It's been a long, tough week, a rollercoaster ride," he commented.
