Unstable ATM services hit BPI; clients angry
LISTED Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) on Tuesday told its clients that there would be intermittent services at some of its automated teller machines (ATMs).
In an advisory, the Ayala- led lender said clients might experience such services when accessing some of the ATMs, cash- accept machines, other banks’ ATMs and point-of-sale machines.
“Our technical teams are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. We will provide updates accordingly,” it added.
Asked on the cause, BPI Vice President and Corporate Affairs head Owen Cammayo told
that the issue was still being investigated.
“Can be Bancnet connection and many more. We are isolating and testing possible causes based on symptoms,” he said.
The comment came after after BPI client Raffy Ayeng informed
about the problem. “I got so irate because I cannot withdraw my money to buy provisions [for the] MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine) [now in effect]. And before [its] implementation…online business transactions [were] already” having glitches, he said.
“They have been unreliable, especially at this time of MECQ, when people are rushing to buy provisions. We cannot use it for cashless transaction, as well, since there’s a problem with their system,” Ayeng added.
Meanwhile, other clients took their concerns to social media, with most of them complaning they can’t withdraw funds from BPI and non-BPI ATMs.
“I tried to withdraw (at a) BPI ATM using an international card. [It was a] failed transaction….” a Twitter user with the handle “@jejeunesse” told BPI on the social media platform.
Another user, “@ pauleenv,” asked BPI if its online app was also down, to which the bank confirmed, saying the platform was also experiencing intermittent availability, but has been reported for checking and resolution.
BPI last experienced technical problems in April 2019, when clients reported that their accounts reflected wrong balances, among other inconveniences.