Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Bank glitches lead to pay-day chaos
THOUSANDS of employees across South Africa were left angry after their debit orders bounced when they didn’t get paid yesterday.
Weekend Argus saw internal communications from big companies, ranging from retail stores to universities, informing their staff that a technical glitch had resulted in a delay in the payment of their salaries.
Pay day came yesterday, a perfect day to plan a eventful weekend, but for many it was like a cursed Friday the 13th.
The Cape Peninsula University of Technology statement to staff said an interbank system glitch, with specific regard to transfer of salary payments, had caused a delay in transferring funds to staff banks.
“Our service provider is urgently working on the matter and we will find an alternative to ensure the outstanding salary payments are effected within 24 hours,” reads the letter.
It was the same with the Takealot group, but they were under the impression those banking with Standard Bank had received their salaries. “It is unfortunate that we have to advise you that employees who bank with banks other than Standard Bank would not have received their salaries in their bank accounts this morning.
“This issue is not only affecting Takealot, but many other South African companies,” they said to their staff.
Capitec Bank quickly informed their clients that they were not responsible for the delay. “Please note that we have not received all salaries from employers who bank with Standard Bank, due to technical difficulties on their side.
“We promise we will process it as soon as it arrives. We suggest that you contact your employer to speak to their bank.”
Frustrated people took it to Twitter to express their dissatisfaction.
@_I_Am_SAn said: “What in the ghetto mess is happening in SA? If we’re not ducking potholes, we’re being messed with by Standard bank, pay us our money Standard Bank.”
@Lungelwandima added: “It’s one thing for Standard Bank’s issues to affect their own clients, it’s another for them to mess with the rest of the country’s finances. Ay man you guys should do better. There are credit scores at stake.”
In another tweet, @alexthemarsian said: “Standard Bank has managed to keep a wonderful public image while losing functionality entirely over pay day for the past six months. Every time I see positive SB articles I cringe.”
Additionally, @BoldlyCeleste added: “You need to understand the root cause for this recurring issue, Standard bank. Use those bank charges we pay every month, to find a specialist who can resolve these basic issues! It’s not complicated.”
Absa said it was not its doing that some of clients were affected. “Yes, we are aware of an issue that involves payment processes at another bank, which resulted in beneficiaries across the banking industry not receiving their salaries. We have assisted the industry in trying to resolve this issue.”
It has been said for a long time that many South Africans are flat broke in the days before pay day. With the rising cost of living, many will find it hard spending another day or two without their salaries.
In a letter to a client, Standard Bank executive Gus Ferreira said they had experienced a technical issue when submitting The Next Day Pay files to BackServ on the evening of March 24. “This technical issue resulted in the processing of files missing the BankServ cutoff for file submission on the 24th March 2022,” reads the letter.
He then promised that the issue would be resolved but said that there may be a delay in monies reflecting on clients’ bank accounts.
People were concerned that the glitches were caused by the recent hacking of TransUnion.
Standard Bank spokesperson Ross Linstrom confirmed a processing error had resulted in the salaries of some of their business and corporate clients, and clients of other banks not being paid.
“We sincerely apologise for the anxiety and hardship that this has caused at a critical time of the month. As a matter of urgency, these salary payments are currently being processed.”