Next updates from Commbank up until this post of mine:
" Friday, 18 October 2019
Update 6:00am
We have been working to restore the network systems overnight and they are now returning to normal. Some payments may be delayed appearing in accounts. We are working through the backlog as quickly as possible, but rest assured that all payments both into and out of customer accounts will be properly processed.
Our branches will open as per normal today (many until 5pm). ATMs and EFTPOS are operating as normal. There may be delays if you call our contact centres and we thank customers for their patience. We have brought in additional staff to serve customers to assist with any outstanding issues.
We are very sorry for the inconvenience this is causing our customers.
We want to assure customers that their accounts are safe. The internal system issues related to an upgrade implemented on Thursday.
We will continue to update via this page and on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
We thank our customers for their continued patience
Update 1:00am
Services are starting to recover, however, there may be a delay in payments appearing in accounts.
We apologise for the inconvenience as we work through processing these payments."
No mention of compensation just apologies and that payments will be âproperly processedâ. Yep all care (well not even that) but no responsibility. Watch as profits still go up.
⊠under the banner of protecting against online fraud âŠ
âThe intention is that a digital identity established by a private sector provider under the TrustID framework will eventually be able to be used to access government services, and vice versa.â
More Banks hit with outages again. This really shows how well we are prepared to have a Cashless Society (cashless in that we wonât be able to use any money):
This just shows we can have no faith in 100% access 100% of the time which if we do go completely cashless we will require. An imperfect system.
The subject line had me amused, while an error probably appropriate, but a picture depicting three banks not involved in the outage is downright unprofessional - I guess thatâs the price paid to get the story out first âŠ
For anyone not aware they are Westpac 2nd tier subsidiaries but all three banks use the same non-Westpac ICT system. Maybe the ICT managers from Westpac have been moved over so the small players can catch up on outages?
Though they did reference in their story the outage of CBA. And now a video about the CBA outage is playing at the top of the news article. ANZ in the pic just must be the poor cousin in the middle caught up in the furore They now have a St George image up instead of the 3 ATMs.
Certainly makes a good case for having the now long obselete click-clack imprinters and the paper vouchers as a fallback for these types of situations.
Whilst I was at our local Coles on 23.12.2019, their EFTPOS was down so they were getting customers to sign the bottom of the dockets, but when I went to another nearby Coles, everything was normal.
When I lookesd at the entries on my CBA MasterCard the next day, the signed transaction had already been completed whilst the EFTPOS one was stiil pending, as usual.
Or a digital alternative that creates a cached record?
The only ones loosing out will be the banks. There is a small risk transactions may be made against overdrawn accounts, or false/stolen cards.
It would seem typically mean of our banking system if they choose not to provide a simple effective plan B for such circumstances. Or are there as @Fred123 suggests, existing choices the retailers could have in place?
Didnât the banks promise to drop their charges for non-customers?
Of course, this is not much use if none of the big four have an ATM locally.
I have absolutely no plans to install a banking app on my phone. Having seen the technological capabilities of Australian banks, I would not trust any of them with an app to guard my money.
Yes - Australian banknotes and coins do not necessarily have to be used in transactions and refusal to accept payment in legal tender banknotes and coins is not unlawful.
I moved this topic here because it seems appropriate since government seems to be marginalising cash, and the Mint seems to be wringing its hands on reducing small coinage even further while making dollars (if there will still be any in circulation) with limited editions - not the traditional reasons currency has been sponsored by governments.
Last year I noticed that banks issue legal tender (pound sterling) in Scotland, probably under government license, a difference to most(?) countries approaches, and traditional currency is getting some competition by digitals (eg bitcoin).
Is this âtrendâ an opportunity for more middle players (eg Visa and Mastercard, et al) to extract their own profit layers and make âbuying and sellingâ more costly, or adding value to life?
There is also potential for banks to have contactless (NFC) technologies in smart devices to directly link bank accounts to purchases without the need for a secondary player (such as Mastercard or Visa). I understand from a good friend in the industry that some of the banks are already experimenting/developing such technologies. This would mean that the purchases would transacted directly with the two banks (merchant and purchaser) rather than the current model which has the intermediary.
It could do away with the debit/eftpos type cards in the longer term.
Are you suggesting the banks would altruisticallyreplace Visa/Mastercard, et al? Or are they after their share of the profits and payment system shares, to put it bluntly and simplistically?
Mind melded payments? There will be something, and it will have fees atop the amounts of the purchases, will there not?
It is possibly a reversion back when transactions went through the banksâŠit is only a recent phenomena that most banks issue Visa/Mastercard etc debit cards which replaced the previous EFTPOS only cards.
The banks possibly would do it as it would allow them to charge the merchant fees (if they chose to do so) rather than being potentially controlled by the likes of the large credit card multis.
It will be interesting as in effect it is possibly an extension of online bankingâŠwith the difference being automated. I suspect that they would continue with the fee free transactions and then one pays for higher numbers made. Maybe a flat rate would be imposed on the merchant which is cheaper than say EPTPOS or that from the credit card multis. The amount of money transacted could generate a significant revenue stream even if the merchant rates were very low (points of a percentage rather than 1% or more like the CC companies)
While interesting technologies, I am not yet a future potential or convinced user. Maybe one day this will change if the security, merits etc justify its use.
I think they may enjoy the intermediates as they absorb the fraud risk for the banks (and similar financial institutions). They also allow some distancing from the costs (interest and fees) they impose by pointing the finger at the Visa/Mastercard organisations to deflect criticism. The âwe donât control thisâŠitâs due to Visa/Mastercard policy sorryâ nebulous answer when asked why they charge oh so much interest or such a big annual fee.
A cashless society is another example of social engineering and very naive as far as Iâm concerned. Sure, you lose your card, but with wave/pay, tap and pay, whatever you want to call it the thief can use it until the limit is reached. Then you have to go through the rigmarole of contacting the bank or credit provider.
What happens when âthe system is downâ which is an ever increasing problem. Totally ridiculous, not to mention small traders, buskers and other people being paid for their valuable work. Donât be a part of this nonsense, playing into the hands of authorities that want even more control of our liberties.
They now have a St George image up instead of the 3 ATMs.