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Computer Glitch Leaves Some Australians Without Cash
An anonymous reader writes "National Australia Bank payments to customers were again delayed today after a computer glitch yesterday morning due to a corrupted file in its mainframe computer. Upset consumers are now demanding compensation for any fees for late mortgage and credit card payments, overdrawn accounts or bounced direct debits charged by any institutions as a result of the mess."
Still the safest place until you house burns down
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
Maybe some other big banks could copy this computer glitch and wipe out the billions of pounds /dollars /yen / euros / gold pieces that everyone owes each other, we could get back to some kind of normality.
Ide have had the first post, but my ISP payment bounced...
It looks like consumers aren't demanding it so much as the bank is promising it, which is no surprise. Even if Australia doesn't have laws protecting consumers in that sort of event, the bank will do it anyhow because they have to.
As a practical matter all it'll likely take is phone calls/letters to creditors explaining that it was a glitch and no fault of the person involved. As a somewhat related example a friend of mine got hit because of a glitch years ago. The power company double debited his payment. That happened right about when a number of other transactions came which caused some of them to bounce, including his rent check. All the fees from the bank overdrew his account, he had other fees from the people he owed money to, and his landlord notified him he'd be evicted if he didn't pay. Well, the power company made things right and gave him back his money. They also called the relevant parties saying "Sorry, it was our fuckup." Every single one canceled all the fees. Since it wasn't his fault, they didn't fine him. Had they not, the power company said to send them the bills for the fees and they'd reimburse him.
So while this is doubtless a stressful time for those involved, in the end I have to imagine it'll all get worked out. Goes double since this is a major fuckup, and going to be well known.
Something tells me a system administration job just opened up.at a major Australian bank.
I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.
If you have a payment due on X date, you wait until day X - 1, and something goes wrong and delays you by one day, this is your fault, not your bank's fault.
I disagree entirely. In todays age of electronic payments and daily interest, it's important to pay things ON TIME. Paying early for most people means losing interest elsewhere. I pay on X date, not even X-1. I schedule most of this. Noone pays me 7 days early, the banks certainly don't clear a cheque early on assumption it'll be fine. The NAB appear to be acting very fairly on this matter, which is more than I've seen other banks (CBA) doing when a computer glitch duplicated a debit on my account. I was 50k down on an interest bearing mortgage offset account for a week - they didn't even remotely entertain my request $60 interest it lost me. They don't waste any time when the shoe is on the other foot though so good on NAB.
Only big ligs use sigs.
RTFA
The problem was not that they "left it too late" - the problem was the money that should have been put into their accounts to cover the bills (from paycheques, etc) did not actually make it into the accounts.
If the money that was supposed to go in the account did not actually make it in, then they would not have anything to be able to pay the bills as they became due.
Keep in mind also that many repetitive payments, such as like credit card repayments, are often timed to come out automatically the day after payday - this is not a matter of personal decision, therefore not their fault.
Yes, many people do live from paycheck to paycheck. You've probably seen them but don't recognise them, they are the people who man the cash registers, cut your hair, keep your office clean, serve you drinks and food, cut your lawn, and take away your garbage.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
and it's normal not to have any money on your accounts and live from payday to payday?
For some people, yes.
Welcome to the real world.
okay, the banks made an error and should compensate... but do people really find it normal not to save any money and be screwed when the tinyest thing goes wrong?
Some people don't earn enough to "save any money". When 90% of your income goes in basic and essential expenses, being able to save even 10% is a luxury not always afforded should any emergency expenses come up.
If you take everything down to the wire to maximize interest, fine, but you are gambling the gains in interest vs the potential loss in terms of fees. If you are ok with that, fine, but then don't cry when you do get hit with fees and lose out. Personally I think the other way is smarter. I keep an amount of money in my non-interest bearing checking account since that is where all my transactions draw from. That way if there is a miscalculation there's no overdraw, no bounced payments, no fees. Likewise I pay things before the drop dead date.
Do I miss out on some interest? Sure, if I messed with funds all the time and tried to keep everything in savings till the last second I'd get a bit more interest. However it wouldn't take much in the way of a fee to negate any of that.
So I think there's some real validity to the GP's statement. Don't take things down to the wire, build in time to make sure if there's a glitch, there's no problem.
This entire thread you've been racing to the defense of the banks. If I have money in the bank, and cannot use it due to a corrupted file on the bank's server or whatnot, THEN IT IS THE BANKS FAULT.
Its that simple.
Its not that I didn't have enough money, or that I didn't initiate the transfer. The bank fucked up. They sure as hell want to charge me for everything under the sun when I'm late. If they are late its their fucking fault, and I will pass the late fees on to them.
You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.