As Singapore moves towards becoming cashless, a whole host of technical issues have been reported in the news over the last few years.
For example, the case about cheating hawkers with “fake” payment screenshots and accidentally paying $4,450 for dim sum instead of $44.50 using PayNow.
Technically, those are the fault of users of cashless payment systems. What happens when the entire e-banking system is down for way too long, and you’re stuck stranded and helpless?
DBS and POSB Down for Several Hours, Restoration was Progressive
On Thursday (2 May), DBS and POSB internet banking and payment services went down for about five hours.
According to Downdetector Singapore, a site that tracks online site disruptions and outages, about 2,000 reports were detected from users who used DBS.
On Facebook, the bank announced at about 6.54pm that they were aware that the disruption was happening. At that time, they reassured that they “have identified the issue and have activated measures to recover the services”.
They also added that the customers’ deposits and money are safe, and they apologised for the inconvenience.
Disruption at Dinner Time – Cashless is Inconvenient?
The disruption occurred during peak dinner time, after work.
Therefore, it’s no surprise that people were panicking – unable to pay for their food or log into the e-banking app.
Worse still when they didn’t bring cash. Chaotic.
Those were some of the stories shared by frustrated users on Facebook under DBS’s announcement. Some users made jokes under the post – thanking the hawkers for allowing them to “eat first, pay later”.
Users were reportedly met with an error message when they opened the app. It said that the app was experiencing heavy traffic and that users should log in later.
DBS posted a final update at 9.10pm announcing that most of their services have returned to normal.
MAS Penalties and Restrictions
This came about two days after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that DBS Bank is no longer under a six-month pause and monitoring.
In case you missed it, last year, MAS imposed a six-month suspension on DBS Bank’s non-essential IT services. This was to ensure that the bank properly allocates its resources into upgrading its systems and making it better for everyone.
Ironically, it came about due to consistent disruptions that DBS Bank had throughout 2023.
Even though the suspension was lifted, DBS is still required to set aside some regulatory capital as part of the penalty imposed by MAS regarding the disruptions in 2023.
You can also watch this video to know more bank disruptions and how it affects us:
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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