BSP, lawmakers to probe BPI blunder

Validating claims it was operational error, not cybercrime

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has started its investigation to determine if Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) would be sanctioned for a glitch that affected depositors’ accounts last Wednesday.

Lawmakers also filed a resolution at the House of Representatives to inquire into the "stability of bank internal systems" following the glitch that caused a flurry of social media vitriol.

This comes as the country’s third largest bank again shut down electronic systems for the second day on Thursday after getting complaints that accounts have yet to reflect actual balances.

Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. told reporters the BSP refrained from looking into the matter on the day the error occurred so as not to distract BPI from first prioritizing customers’ concerns.

“For today, be normal, take care of your customers. But to- morrow, we’ll talk about it,” Espenilla said Wednesday night.

Asked if the BSP would slap sanctions against BPI, Espenilla said the regulator would need to study claims of operational error on the part of the bank. The bank claimed only a small portion of its depositor base, numbering about eight million, was affected.

“We have to first validate if there was really no cybercrime. Then we have to see how they responded, how well they handled the situation. Those are the relevant issues,” Espenilla said.

BPI earlier denied it was a hacking incident.

Espenilla noted "BPI already received a major penalty because of the impact [of the incident]—a significant chunk of goodwill was eroded because of this incident" such that additional penalties would have to be studied carefully.

“I’m pretty sure the bank will conduct an internal investigation … If they already punished the person concerned, that’s enough, no need to punish but we need to evaluate,” according to Espenilla.

Ako Bicol representatives Rodel Batocabe, Christopher Co and Alfredo Garbin Jr. filed House Resolution 1072 on Thursday, saying a congressional probe was warranted in the face of "an already unstable public perception regarding security of our institutions..."

BPI apologized anew to clients on Thursday as electronic channels, including ATMs and online banking, remained deactivated.

This surprised and angered many given that the bank had promised to resolve the problem on the day when the situation first became known to the public.

“[We] continue to exert all efforts in rectifying balances of accounts with mis-posted transactions,” the bank said in a statement.

It said branches stayed open until 7:30 p.m. to handle deposits, withdrawals, payments, and other transactions.

“You may also continue availing other banking services, such as credit cards, remittance, SWIFT, equities, brokerage (BPI Trade), investments, and loans,” BPI added.