Digital advocates on Wednesday demanded that the Bank of the Philippine Islands explain the reason behind unwarranted deductions in the accounts of their customers.
This was after BPI admitted to a system glitch that caused duplicated transactions in digital accounts of clients early Wednesday who complained on social media of losing money.
“BPI should inform their customers if their system has been compromised. Everyone is getting worried,” Digital Pinoys national campaigner Ronald Gustilo said on Wednesday, January 4.
The group also called for immediate action from the bank, urging it to upgrade its system to ensure the safety and accessibility of people’s hard-earned cash.
This was due to reports that some users could access the bank’s website and mobile app early this morning.
“Constantly upgrading security features and implementing user interface improvements in mobile apps should be done by banks to ensure that the hard-earned money entrusted to them is safe and readily accessible to the account owner at any given time,” the group said.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said that the bank has already identified the root cause of the operational error.
By the end of the workday, BPI had said it has resolved the matter and begun reversing the mistaken transactions, thereby returning money to affected accounts.
“We are pleased to inform you of the successful resolution of the duplicate transactions on affected BPI accounts,” the bank said in an advisory on Wednesday at 6:31 p.m.
Users may still experience intermittent access to web and mobile app platforms due to the high volume of online inquiries.
Both the bank and the Bangko Sental have not disclosed, however, the root cause was for Wednesday morning’s glitch.
