Standard Bank has restored its services after its IT infrastructure was affected by technical glitches that interrupted most transactional services, including cash withdrawals, earlier today. It said in a statement on Friday afternoon that it was now investigating the cause of the failure.
Angry customers reported via social media that the whole system was offline and that card swipes and cash withdrawals were affected, with accounts reflecting a balance of zero.
The bank has apologised or the interruption in digital banking services that lasted for an hour and 45 minutes.
Standard Bank spokesperson Ross Linstrom said: “We can confirm that all services have now been restored.
“Affected channels included Internet banking, the Standard Bank mobile app, Standard Bank mobile banking services (USSD) as well as certain services within the branch environment. Dispatched technical teams have identified the problem and have implemented the necessary remedies to restore banking services.”
Linstrom, said that its systems were being monitored to ensure that all services run smoothly.
“Standard Bank sincerely apologises for the interruption in service and assures our valued customers that we will endeavour to resolve the issue on a permanent basis,” he said.
Linstrom urged clients to follow the bank’s social media accounts for updates.
The bank tweeted just after 1pm: “We are experiencing some technical issues on our Banking App, Internet and Cellphone Banking services. Cash Deposits on ATMs are also affected. Cash withdrawals and card swipes are not affected. We are sorting this out. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
But clients disagreed and turned to Twitter and Facebook to express frustration.
Tallulah van der Made wrote on Facebook: “Public service announcement: Standard Bank - South Africa is down. As in accounts all show zero balance and you can't pay for anything or withdraw money because their systems say you have none. Yes, I was also surprised that this is a thing that can happen and they have no safe guards to prevent it. But there you go.”
This is the second time the bank has been affected by similar glitches in recent years.
In 2014, on 1 of September Standard Bank clients claimed they could not withdraw money from ATMs, and their cards were being declined at point-of-sale devices at shops. Internet and cellphone banking applications were also down.
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