Hume Bank customers have waited since Monday for money to land in their accounts as a technical glitch affecting a third party company that processes payments is yet to be resolved.
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Among those affected was a Wodonga mum who could not properly celebrate her 15-year-old son’s birthday with last week’s pay failing to come through.
The woman, who wished to stay anonymous, works casually and had been left with $50 in her account.
“On Friday, I saw I hadn’t been paid and the people I work for were meant to fix it up Monday,” she said.
“Monday night, there was still nothing … my employer said the pay had left their bank and to check with mine.
“I rang Hume and they told me there’d been a third-party processing company that had a glitch and quite a large number of payments had been held up.”
The customer said she was disappointed by the lack of contact from Hume Bank.
“I had no call to say this had happened,” she said.
“It’s lucky I bought a couple things last week so my son had at least something, but his main birthday present he will have to wait for.”
Hume Bank chief executive David Marshall said only electronic transactions made on Monday had been impacted but didn’t say how many.
“It did not affect any other transactions on any other day,” he said.
“The issue is with a third-party supplier who works for a number of banks and we’re working around the clock to get this fixed.
“I encourage customers to call 1300 004 863 and we’ll make sure we look after any concerns they might have.”
The third-party supplier is First Data, which processes payments between financial institutions.
Hume Bank’s 2016 financial report referenced a “economic dependency on First Data Resources Australia Limited” for the provision of a number of services.
The glitch has affected other banks linked with First Data, including at least three in the Hunter area of NSW.
Numerous customers have contacted The Border Mail about the problem, including Michelle Oxlee who said she had to suspend her mortgage payment.
“I am supposed to pick up furniture tomorrow that I will be unable to pay for,” she said.
“Each time you ask for an update on proceedings they say it could be rectified today.
“The staff have been fantastic and are doing all they can … sadly that doesn't help our situation.”
First Data issued the following statement on Thursday:
“On Monday, March 6, First Data experienced technical issues when processing settlement files that delayed funds from being deposited into our clients’ customer accounts.
“Due to the nature of the issue, a manual verification of the settlement files was required to ensure all transactions were processed correctly.
“Impacted settlement files continue to be reviewed, processed and forwarded to the relevant financial institutions.
“First Data wishes to apologise for any inconvenience caused to both our clients and their customers.”