Westpac gets ‘most’ card payments working

Westpac said last night ‘‘most’’ card payments were now working, but online banking services and its contact centre were still not working as a result of a ‘‘widespread’’ systems failure.

The bank’s customers struggled to make payments and complete online banking transactions yesterday which has left customers fuming, including those trying to buy food.

But in an update to its Facebook page at 5.30pm last night, the bank said: ‘‘Most card transactions are now working but we have yet to implement a comprehensive solution.’’

Westpac said it had identified the problem, but it did not have an ETA for systems to be back up.

Customers directed their anger to the bank via Facebook, including suggesting that instead of transactions failing with a ‘‘declined’’ message, the message could indicate the reason was not because the customer did not have the funds in their account.

Pearl Davies posted: ‘‘I’m so happy I’m not the only one I just waited 45 mins in the supermarket to pay for my shopping for it to be declined.’’

Another shopper Ria Mana posted her frustration at not being told what was happening around 3pm.

‘‘So where is the update Westpac. It is shopping day and I have a house full of kids to feed and I can’t pay for my shopping even tho’ there is money in there.’’

Some customers tried to contact the bank by phone, but struggled to get through.

‘‘After ringing the call centre and being told a five minute wait, it’s been almost an hour,’’ Aurelia Rose posted. ‘‘Phone banking isn’t working, app isn’t working and even your site won’t load. I’m not happy at all.’’

Other customers felt Westpac should have a system of text notifications to alert customers when its payment systems were down. Westpac responded saying it had been unable to send out text notifications too.