CBA gives $50 payment to customers affected by outage payment

Commonwealth Bank has taken the unusual step of offering a $50 apology payment to some customers affected by the latest outage.

CBA group executive for retail banking Angus Sullivan said the problems had affected the bank’s network infrastructure. Picture: AFP

Commonwealth Bank has taken the unusual step of offering a $50 apology payment to some customers affected by last week’s major outage.

A bank spokeswoman said that was being made to customers who missed payments over the weekend because of the outage, a situation it’s understood may have affected at least 100,000 individual customers and small businesses.

The $50 was paid in addition to refunds of late fees and other charges incurred by some customers as a result of the bank’s problems.

“Following the outage impacting our systems in recent days, we have made significant progress in processing the outstanding payments,” the bank said in a notice posted on its website on Wednesday.

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“We are now refunding fees and charges associated to the network issue on Thursday for our customers who were impacted by this issue.

“Commonwealth Bank has made a payment into the accounts of customers who were unable to access their funds over the weekend, due to the delay in payments.”

Last week the bank made the unusual move of closing branches as it grappled with the outage, which it blamed on systems upgrade gone wrong.

The issue first emerged last Thursday morning and caused widespread problems for the bank’s customers and for businesses, with many turning to social media to vent frustration.

In a video apology to customers, CBA group executive for retail banking Angus Sullivan said the problems had affected the bank’s network infrastructure.

On Wednesday CBA said that any payment issues should now be resolved.

“We now believe funds should be in customer accounts. If customers have any issues or questions regarding their payments they should contact our call centre or visit us in branch so we can assist,” the bank said.

But the bank cautioned that it would not be contacting customers and asking for account details. Any customers approached for such details should refuse and contact the bank, a CBA spokeswoman said.

“We apologise to everyone who has been affected by the delay in payments and we are very sorry for the inconvenience it has caused,” the bank said.