Westpac are experiencing a processing breakdown with its banking system which has effected its own and other customers belonging to three of the four big banks.
The break down has resulted in a delay for customer’s making and receiving payments, the extent of which Westpac admit they do not know, claim the SMH.
As a result customers belonging to other banks who are expecting other payments from a Westpac account will be affected by the failure, Westpac told BusinessDay.
“Westpac has experienced a delay overnight in the processing of some payments to and from other banks. Customers can still make payments throughout the day, however there will be some delays.”
Commonwealth and ANZ confirmed the delays affected them, and promised to deal with them urgently once they receive Westpac’s transaction list. NAB was also affected by the banking system breakdown.
Australia’s major banks process overnight payment and transactions in ‘batches’, leaving them vulnerable if one bank encounters a glitch. Unaware of what cause the problem, Westpac could not provide a timeframe for when the problem will be fixed.
“Westpac has mobilised additional resources to restore payment services as soon as possible,” the bank said.
They also said that no customers will be a charged late payment fees as a result of the payment delays.