May 28, 2013 - In the wake of last year's IT meltdown at Ulster Bank, Ireland's payments systems will face more regular risk assessments.

Last June, a bungled software update at RBS saw a huge payments backlog develop, causing chaos for Ulster Bank customers, with many not having their accounts rectified for several weeks.

In response, the Central Bank of Ireland told the Irish Payment Services Organisation (Ipso) to bring in an outside firm to carry out a risk assessment of the country's infrastructure.

Now published, the review conducted by BH Consulting concludes that the Ipso's risk management processes are "relatively robust", based on international best practises.

However, given that the payments infrastructure is considered a critical system affecting market, and even societal, stability, several recommendations designed to beef up procedures have been made and accepted.

Risk assessments currently carried out every two years will now be done annually to help ensure they are "in line with the latest threats and risks".

In addition, the Ipso risk framework will be fully aligned with industry best practice and assessments will focus on the payments systems as a whole rather than looking at the individual elements.

Representatives from member banks' operations, IT, and risk functions will also present their assessments to a new payments risk governance board.

Pat McLoughlin, CEO, Ipso, says: "Ipso and its member banks are committed to ensuring we have a robust system of risk assessments to guarantee that customers continue to trust in their payments being made safely, efficiently and quickly."