Cape Town - Panic struck South African consumers and businesses on Monday, when Standard Bank experienced a hardware crash, halting all transactions for its clients.
With the recent African Bank fiasco and the downgrading of Capitec by Moody's, bank customers have been dealt several tough blows over the past month.
Read:
- TIMELINE: Story of an African Bank
- Bank downgrades bad news for consumers
Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx, said it would be difficult to say how well Standard Bank responded without knowing what it was to which they were responding.
“If it was a major system crash, two hours would be seen as fast,” he told Fin24.
“If it was a minor glitch, two hours would be excessive. It is necessary, however, for them to explain to customers why their systems went down, and what they are doing to prevent a recurrence.”
All your latest Standard Bank Tweets:
Tweets about "standard bank"
15:38
LATEST NEWS: Standard Bank apologises for technical glitch.
15:19
Kudos to Funeka Montjane, chief exec: Personal & Business Banking @StandardBankGrp for communicating issues quickly - http://t.co/qhG4CTBhud
— IT-Online (@ITOnlineSA) September 1, 2014
15:18
Fin24 user Phumlane Mkhwanazi wrote: "Got embarrassed when I couldn't pay for petrol on my way to work."
15:16
Fin24 user Kealeboga Agnes Dikole Moalusi wrote: "It also happened in Vryburg and now the system is up and running but the queue is long."
15:15
@PetrusRamela Hi Petrus, the app is available is available in the app stores. Click here for more info: http://t.co/aO0r6AAzlc
— Standard Bank SA (@StandardBankGrp) September 1, 2014
15:14
@gwalax what happened with #StandardBank was know as a "cascading server failure" where all servers go offline.Extremely hard to fix quickly
— Nigel Reeves (@hamrat) September 1, 2014
15:12
Standard Bank has released this statement:
Apologies to everyone who experienced inconvenience possibly caused by a disruption to some of our services today.
Your overall experience with Standard Bank and the services we offer remains our priority.
Services that were impacted by the disruption included ATMs, debit and credit card purchases, internet banking as well as our telephone and APP services.
The majority of the services were restored within two hours following prompt action by our internal technical team. Our initial investigation points to an isolated hardware failure and we are investigating the cause of this.
Everything is being done to avoid this incident happening again.
We take this matter very seriously because it is important that you are able to access all of our services without fail 24/7. We continue to monitor our system closely.
Please call us on 0860 123 000 if you experience further problems.
15:05
Standard Bank systems up and running again after two-hour downtime today http://t.co/bNQWpG018l pic.twitter.com/FKqtfkPe8X
— Datasp (@DataspSA) September 1, 2014
15:05
Fin24 user Pearl B wrote about her experience at the Sandton Gautrain station:
“I am disappointed at the events that took place. I mean I got to the Sandton Gautrain station and was about to load money on my Gold card and it said insufficient funds. Now I've been in a long queue and when I got to the cashier, I received the news and people probably thought I was taking chances.
“It is really frustrating and I think when things like these happen, an alert should be sent to our phones so we can be made aware of the problems they encountered. I could not even withdraw from another bank's ATM.
“I am not blaming them because it’s an unfortunate event that was beyond their control and I don't think I would change my bank because of this. I think all banks go through some phase as FNB did last week where people's salaries were delayed.
I just think the banks should communicate with their customers when such technical issues occur.”
14:35
Fin24 user Kaylem Cronje wrote: "I was at the bank three times today, and I could not believe my ears how people spoke to the consultants. Come on people, how can you yell and be such idiots to these people, as if it is their fault? GROW UP. I would like to thank the staff and manager at Rivonia Branch for the excellent service.
Just like everybody I also had bills to pay and things that needed to be sorted out. By just talking nicely and being understanding, the manager of the branch helped me out. He also worked so hard to sort the other clients out. Thanks to all at the Standard Bank Rivonia Branch, for biting your lips and being so helpful towards myself and the rest of the people that utilise your branch."
14:30
What's going on with Standard Bank kante? pic.twitter.com/RNklRK6GJt
— tumi malapile (@tumimalapile) September 1, 2014
14:28
I'm not perturbed by standard bank glitch. These things happen. Our bodies, cars don't always function optimally. But bank must inform asap
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) September 1, 2014
14:27
Fin24 user Celeste de Lange wrote: "Did they try switching it off and on again?? Idiots in the IT dept probably tripped over a cable."
14:24
Fin24 user Abri Theart wrote: "Most banks have recently done and are busy with huge roll-outs (Software/Hardware). Normally Project- and Change Management are not properly attended to, and by GO-LIVE, short-cuts are taken, because time is running out. Gaps are discovered too late, scope creeping, in-comprehensive (use-phase)testing, and limited simulation sessions.
Plus the fact that Project Managers are leaving during the deployment [and so] competency gaps brings more stress on everyone, and focus is lost. By this time budget is depleted and the pressure is even more, just to get things done. In the meantime, the change management process was neglected and competency development was in a lower gear and priority. These factorscreate an environment for DISASTER. Hope that a honest root-cause analysis will be done, and proper recording of lessons learnt."
14:21
Fin24 user Manoj Bhoola wrote: "I could not check-in at a hotel in Europe and had to wait for over 90 minutes before the systems came up. Call centre was poor in providing a solution to me. Poor communication, no pro-active SMS or warning about the problem."
14:20
The Standard Bank systems crash has affected a Fin24 user oversees.
14:13
Standard Bank spokesperson Ross Linstrom said an investigation is still being conducted into the hardware crash and Standard Bank will update Fin24 as soon as they know more details. A security breach has been ruled out completely.
14:13
Standard Bank spokesperson Ross Linstrom said the reason why certain online customers were experiencing technical difficulties was due to the gridlock caused by the two-hour shutdown earlier. “We are very happy with the speed at which the system is picking up, and any technical issues are as a result of outstanding payments coming through the system, causing a gridlock. This shouldn’t last much longer.”
14:04
FNB confirmed to Fin24 that all's well at the bank and its Online Banking division. "FNB Online Banking is stable and available," says Christine Burrows.
14:01
Fin24 user Harshika Desai wrote: "The best part is that there is no disaster recovery plan in place... From what I noticed, seems like an internet upgrade gone wrong. the look of the home page has changed somewhat from what I am used to."
13:56
@ItuMaredi Hi there, banking services have been restored and our banking apps will be up soon. Apologies for the inconvenience.
— Standard Bank SA (@StandardBankGrp) September 1, 2014
13:55
#StandardBank: Did you know @StandardBankGrp received the @SundayTimesZA #TopBrands2014 award for #banking @Fin24
— Adiel Ismail (@AfriNite) September 1, 2014
13:52
Standard Bank assured customers their system was not hacked and there was no security breach. It was a hardware failure, which needed to be restarted one section at a time after being fixed.
13:52
A Fin24 user said he got into internet banking, but that it was slow.
13:51
Fin24 user Brent Bartlett wrote: "Yes software and hardware glitches happen but Standard Bank's systems really need to be looked at. I have had three debit cards swallowed by ATM's for no obvious reasons this past month and problems with internet banking at least four times this past month. Why should I tolerate this?"
13:46
Fin24 user Andrew Rall wrote: "Standard Bank obviously has an insufficient Disaster Recovery (DR) facility. The loss of an entire mainframe should still not have taken all these systems down. The norm is to have 2 of everything, in 2 separate data centres split over 2 physical sites.
This obviously was not the case this time round and I'm sure heads will roll in the IT department, as well they should. Its easy to blame technology, but technology also enables banks to keep systems up even when components fail. Standard Bank was not ready for such a failure and that is on them, not technology."
13:45
Fin24 user Lekgotla Percy Mothupi wrote: "I think this is the 1st for Standard Bank - unlike FNB, they notify their people. Keep it up...im behind u. This is normal with Technology...don't think we doubt u."
13:43
Chief Executive, Personal and Business Banking Funeka montjane | Standard Bank service hiccup | Live on DSTV 405
— Simangele Legodi (@MangiLegodi) September 1, 2014
13:41
Tjo! Standard Bank! This type of problem at this time of the month! !??? Now service providers&creditors think we are making things up. ??
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) September 1, 2014
13:38
@sicelosithole Apologies for the technical difficulties experienced. Banking services have been restored. Our banking apps will be up soon.
— Standard Bank SA (@StandardBankGrp) September 1, 2014
13:36
Anyone knows why this beautiful #StandardBank building in Adderly Street closed? @Fin24 pic.twitter.com/eFgtvm9eJM
— Adiel Ismail (@AfriNite) September 1, 2014
13:34
#Standardbank this is frustrating especially for a shopaholic!! How must I survive this day huh????
— Naaz Alexander (@Lady_Naaz) September 1, 2014
13:33
Worst day! At the till point, got my Standard Bank card, ready to pay. Card Declined. Went crazy, only to find out the services were offline
— #Unpredictable (@Bongani1256) September 1, 2014
13:32
Fin24 user Kiki Solomon wrote: "In all fairness it is very inconvenient but in general Standard Bank is very reliable."
13:31
Fin24 user Darryl Lombard wrote: "If you concluded a transaction just before the system went down you better make sure that the transaction was successful. In April I transferred money to Standard Bank from my Absa account just as Bank server experienced problems. Afterwards Standard said they had not received the payment, while ABSA swore that the money had been transferred. I was bounced back and forth between the two banks for 3 months before an appeal to the ABSA CEO resulted in ABSA finally refunding my funds."
13:29
Fin24 user xchemistx73 wrote: "Not working and now I have exceeded my login attempts so my card is blocked. How am I supposed to do payroll or month end like this."
13:28
Fin24 user Eon Arc Du Plessis wrote: "Give their Techies and Programmers a chance (I am one myself, not by standard bank). It doesn't take much for a system to fall over. Just hope that they have good Backup Strategies and no cash is lost from anyone's account :)"
13:25
@Fin24 #StandardBank app is up and running again, I'd tweet my proof of this, but I'm too ashamed of my bank balance ??
— Zinitha Sithole (@ZeeSizzle) September 1, 2014
13:23
#Standard Bank : Our internet banking is intermittent and slow and our mobile app is also down we are working quick to get them running
— Olivia (@Gao_Phala) September 1, 2014
13:23
For all the wrong reasons @StandardBankGrp RT @TrendsSthAfrica: #standardbank is now trending in South Africa http://t.co/C4dn9GbpB6
— refilwe africa (@refilweafrica) September 1, 2014
13:22
Worst day! At the till point, got my Standard Bank card, ready to pay. Card Declined. Went crazy, only to find out the services were offline
— Leeto (@ItsLeeto) September 1, 2014
13:22
#standardbank online up but extremely slow!
— Mu-az Mohamed (@official_justmo) September 1, 2014
13:21
Ok, that is it from me. No friendly faces at #Standardbank & I should add that I was able to make 2 transactions without any problem @Fin24
— Adiel Ismail (@AfriNite) September 1, 2014
13:19
Meanwhile, Stanbic Bank, the Zimbabwe-based division of Standard Bank, posted 18.8% growth in after-tax profit to US$9.6m for the half-year ended June 2014. The group recorded an increase in income to $39.3m during the period under review from $36.8m, while its assets grew by 4% to $494.9m. See the full story.
13:19
NtokozoB wrote at 13:11: "They say the system is back on-line, however it does not even recognize my card number yeerr frustrating indeed!!!"
13:16
With regards to FNB, Annemarie Pienaar wrote to Fin24: "I did my payments from FNB no problem."
13:14
#standard bank "" eish what a huge embarrassment my card decline at fuel station
— DJ KEEP CALM (@philalovers) September 1, 2014
13:14
#Standardbank back on line thanks
— Pasiwa (Pty)Ltd (@Pasiwa_Pty) September 1, 2014
13:12
So some #Standardbank staff are ditching there desks today & standing outside assisting clients @Fin24 perhaps start a #spring trend?
— Adiel Ismail (@AfriNite) September 1, 2014
13:11
Another staff member suggests #Standardbank branches will come on line "periodically" @Fin24
— Adiel Ismail (@AfriNite) September 1, 2014
13:11
I show a few staff the statement from #Standardbank. They don't know anything about it. @Fin24
— Adiel Ismail (@AfriNite) September 1, 2014
13:10
Fin24 journalist Adiel Ismail is in the field investigating. See his Twitter posts as he updates. Follow him on Twitter: @AfriNite
13:09
Taking pictures is a "security risk". But we still bringing you the news. #Standardbank @Fin24 pic.twitter.com/9AhQraO83s
— Adiel Ismail (@AfriNite) September 1, 2014
13:08
Jan Jansen van Rensburg wrote 14 minutes ago on Facebook: "Just been to branches at Greenmarket square and Mandela Rhodes. All still down."
13:06
Pat van Vuuren-Taylor wrote on Facebook that she was battling to pay her bills on the FNB site. Were you affected? Tell us now.
13:03
Been trying to pay my bills over the internet, not sure if the money has been deducted or what #StandardBank
— Miss Zinhle (@zinhle_says) September 1, 2014
13:01
12:58
Public Eye wrote on Facebook that FNB and Absa were also affected. Were you affected? Tell us now.
12:53
@StandardBankGrp @Fin24 not good enough. I have missed university lectures as a result and lost all confidence in your ability.
— Jason du Randt (@JasonDuRandt) September 1, 2014
12:52
“@Fin24: LIVE: Standard Bank systems down http://t.co/vspbxjbvn9” glad I read this before I went to a shop and got my card declined
— Zinitha Sithole (@ZeeSizzle) September 1, 2014
12:49
Fin24 user Marcel De Graaf responds to Montjane's quote: “It was an isolated hardware issue, which affected the mainframe" Gee, what happened to fault tolerance, disaster recovery and high availability, surely Standard bank should have some serous redundancy in place as far as hardware is concerned to power to do what is needed to keep their systems up and prevent them from crashing.. I work in it and there is a saying "Have two of everything"
12:47
12:45
12:42
Lol sorry @_matshe: Me too bruh *shrugs* "@NQOH_THE_MAN: No money for lunch, I blame Standard Bank?? pic.twitter.com/6lozOzfTQ2
— Retired Side_Nigga (@NQOH_THE_MAN) September 1, 2014
12:42
Fin24 user Nico Wassermann wrote: "Oh please, as if everybody else is perfect with no problems!! Standard Bank, you are STILL the best ...."
12:41
Fin24 user Nin Ja Kitty wrote: "There is a problem clearly. It doesn't help tweeting and carrying on. This is not the norm and it will do little good to shout and scream at the staff of Standard Bank, they are just as frustrated as you the customer. Data Recovery systems do not instantaneously kick in when the first sign of trouble happens. There are processes in place that need to be followed before these can be activated. Please just slow down about this. I neither work for nor bank with Standard Bank. These things happen."
12:40
Tjo! Standard Bank! This type of problem at this time of the month! !??? Now service providers&creditors think we are making things up. ??
— Redi Tlhabi (@RediTlhabi) September 1, 2014
12:39
Can #StandardBank bank tell me if i'll be able to at least swipe my card then? i dont wanna be embarrassed and add on my frustration
— ?Mmabatho♥ (@MmabathoGP) September 1, 2014
12:38
Montjane: "We are doing a proper investigation into the cause now that everything is back up and running."
12:38
Montjane: “We focused on understanding where it was focused. The first system – ATMs - came back up at 10:48. The system started to come up slowly from there.”
12:35
Montjane: “It was an isolated hardware issue, which affected the mainframe.”
12:34
Montjane: "Our biggest apologies to our customers: Banking should be available 24/7."
12:33
Montjane:"If customers were adversely affected, we will look into compensating for that."
12:30
Montjane: "I want to reassure customers that there was no security breach. Hacking played no part. It was a hardware failure."
12:29
Funeka Montjane, Standard Bank’s Chief Executive: Personal and Business Banking has just spoken to Fin24 in a telephonic interview.
12:29
The Standard Bank problem follows a string of bad news for South African banks, with the collapse of African Bank triggering a series of downgrades for local banks.
Read:
- TIMELINE: Story of an African Bank
- Bank downgrades bad news for consumers
12:28
Standard Bank press statement on crash:
Standard Bank wishes to apologise to customers who are experiencing disruption to some of our services today.
“We would like to reassure our customers that their overall experience with Standard Bank and the services we offer remains our top priority and we regret any inconvenience caused,” said Funeka Montjane, Standard Bank’s Chief Executive: Personal and Business Banking, South Africa.
Services that were impacted by the disruption included ATM functionality, debit and credit card purchases, Internet Banking as well as telephone and APP services.
These services were restored within two hours following prompt action by Standard Bank’s internal technical team. We are investigating the root cause of the system failure. Our initial investigation has determined that the incident was cause by hardware failure. Every action is being taken to avoid the incident repeating itself.
“Standard Bank takes this matter very seriously as it is important that our customers are able to access all of our services seamlessly and without fail 24/7. We will be monitoring the system closely,” said Montjane.
Should any customer experience further problems or have any related queries they are encouraged to contact Standard Bank’s call centre on 0860 123 000
12:19
— Fanashnikov (@fanamokoena) September 1, 2014
12:17
Standard Bank says their systems are back up and running.
12:17
We apologise for all the technical difficulties that our clients experienced this morning. We confirm, our services are back up and working.
— Standard Bank SA (@StandardBankGrp) September 1, 2014
12:16
@lungstaiv Hi there, apologies for the inconvenience caused. We assure you that we're looking into it. Thanks
— Standard Bank SA (@StandardBankGrp) September 1, 2014
12:13
We're aware that some of our services are currently experiencing technical difficulties. We're working to it resolve ASAP
— Standard Bank SA (@StandardBankGrp) September 1, 2014
12:13
Been at the petrol station for almost an hour now ,they won't let me go cos my standard bank card is acting up mxm
— ratilwe (@rati_minaj) September 1, 2014
12:12
#StandardBank is off line, nationwide. Technicians are hard at work trying to fix the problems...
— DRUM Magazine (@DrumMagazine) September 1, 2014
12:08
That moment I dont even have R10 on me "@DrumMagazine: #StandardBank is off line, nationwide. Technicians are hard at work trying to fix
— ?patience? (@Z_P_M_) September 1, 2014
12:02
SYSTEM CRASH nationwide! Standard Bank ATMs & internet banking OFFLINE today. Cant even swipe!! http://t.co/exBgJHP0Ue … #StandardBank
— Sibusiso Banda (@AwesomeSBU) September 1, 2014
12:00
Standard Bank responded to Fin24: Standard Bank spokesperson Ross Linstrom apologized on behalf of the bank to all customers impacted by the issue. “We are working fast to rectify the problem,” he told Fin24. “Looks like systems are coming up soon.” See full story here.
11:58
Fin24 user Ashok Desai wrote: "I believe Standard Bank has been completely down since this morning. Can you investigate and update us on your website. It is amazing that a bank of this stature does not have a disaster recovery plan in place."
11:57
Fin24 user Jenette Risi wrote in: "Can't pay Eskom ! Is Standard Bank going to pay interest charges fr late payment !! It's a bank !! They DON'T Care !!"
11:48
Just in from a Fin24 user: “I visited a number of ATMs around Adderley street and Cape Town, and couldn’t withdraw cash from any of these. I can also not use internet banking or any of the apps. According to friends on Twitter, they can’t even swipe their Standard Bank cards anywhere.
"I was in the same group of people walking from one ATM to the next trying to withdraw cash, but couldn’t do so anywhere. As time progressed, people were becoming extremely upset – it is the first of the month, after all. It sounded like some people were trying to withdraw cash because they couldn’t move their money electronically (which is exactly why I needed cash), but you couldn’t even do that.”