Durban -
Standard Bank resolved a glitch with its ATMs in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday afternoon that had left thousands of people unable to withdraw cash at the weekend.
The bank’s spokesman, Ross Linstrom, said on Sunday afternoon: “Over the weekend a number of Standard Bank ATMs were impacted by a software upgrade. In some instances the upgrade took a bit longer than expected. However, it has now been successfully implemented.”
Durban resident Helen Young, who could not withdraw money, said she was worried and upset because the bank’s ATMs had been down since Friday evening.
“The excuse is that they are upgrading and I do not know when the ATMs will be fully functioning again.
“Nobody was warned of the system upgrade taking place, so that families could have taken the necessary steps to buy bread and milk beforehand. This is very serious,” she said.
Shantal Naidoo said: “I went to two Standard Bank ATMs on Saturday in the Durban North area and they were both not working.”
Another customer, Sakhizen Zikalala, from Ladysmith, was also left stranded, not being able to make any transactions.
Westville resident Garth Johnstone said he went to the Westville Mall on Saturday to withdraw money and the ATM was out of order. A Standard Bank ATM at a garage at 45th Cutting in Sherwood was also not working.
Nomvula Sikakane of Durban said she also could not get cash and had to use another bank. She said this was not the first time she had problems with Standard Bank ATMs.
Linstrom said the bank apologised for the inconvenience.
It is not the first time the bank has had a serious glitch leaving customers disgruntled.
Last September, Standard Bank customers across the country were left fuming after transactions at its ATMs, in branches and via the bank’s online banking app were affected. Customers complained on social media that the crash on the first day of the month added to the inconvenience as their debit orders were not deducted, nor did they have access to their wages. At the time, the bank apologised to its customers on social media.
According to the banking ombudsman’s last annual report, Standard Bank was the bank most people complained about last year. The bank’s customers reported 66% more complaints than in 2013.
The Mercury
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