The attack on Tesco Bank which led to money disappearing from 20,000 accounts "looks unprecedented in the UK", a regulator has said.

Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) told MPs he was worried about weaknesses in banks' complex IT systems. About 40,000 accounts saw suspicious transactions over the weekend, of which half had money taken. Mr Bailey said he was confident that all those affected had been identified. Tesco Bank said that it was working as fast as possible to refund customers' accounts and expected to do so for all those affected by the end of Tuesday.

Online shopping blocked

Tesco Bank said it was hit by a "a systematic, sophisticated attack" at the weekend. An estimated one in seven Tesco Bank current accounts were affected. The bank's chief executive Benny Higgins said the bank knew "exactly" what the attack was, but could not say more because it was part of a criminal investigation. Current account customers have been blocked from making online payments using their debit card since Sunday. Mr Bailey, who was appearing before the Commons Treasury Committee, said the FCA and the bank wanted this function switched back on for customers as soon as possible.....Read more here