13 June 2017 - Westpac suffers IT glitch during bank holiday

Westpac
Source - https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/30684/westpac-online-services-go-on-holiday-for-queens-birthday?utm_medium=dailynewsletter&utm_source=2017-6-14
Where - Australia
Business line - Retail Banking

Westpac suffered a major IT outage locking customers out of their accounts over the Australian bank holiday weekend for the Queen’s birthday.

The firm's online and mobile banking systems reportedly went down as a result of a batch process failure. Customer frustration wasn’t helped by the fact the issues occurred at a time when all branches of the bank were closed due to the bank holiday.

“We have had an issue with online banking whereby some customers were unable to view their account details in Westpac Live," a spokesman said on Tuesday. "While we have resolved the issue for many customers, we are aware that a limited number of people are still having issues logging in.”

Customers complained of long waiting times on the bank’s customer service helpline and many took to social media to blast the bank for the glitch. One customer said a property transaction was at risk if the glitch wasn’t fixed soon. “I have to transfer a large down payment for a property purchase within 24h and I cannot contact you via the international number as it is not working,” she wrote.

Another said: “I am trying to access my money so that I can buy food but I don’t know all of my account numbers off by heart, so I can’t use phone banking — what is going on?” He added: “I am leaving this bank immediately.”

The problem has now been resolved and the bank has promised to reimburse any customers who incurred charges as a result of the outage.