DBS ATMs all up following disruptions on Saturday on DBS and Citi banking services

DBS Bank and Citibank are progressively restoring their banking services, after scores of their customers could not use their online and mobile services on Saturday (Oct 14) afternoon.

DBS customers were also reportedly unable to use their cards for physical transactions.

The Downdetector website, which tracks service disruptions, had 3,800 people reporting issues with DBS' services at 4.08pm, and 279 complaints about Citibank's services at 4.42pm.

In a Facebook update at 6.08pm on Saturday, DBS said its investigations showed that the service disruption was caused by an issue at a data centre, which is also being used by other organisations.

Some netizens on social media said they faced issues using Meta's Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, as well as Citibank's services. Meta users in India, South Africa, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and Maldives posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, about difficulties accessing the tech giant's platforms.

DBS announced in November 2017 that it was partnering US data centre operator Equinix to plug one of the bank's data centres in Singapore into the cloud.

Asked if it was the data centre affected in the service disruptions, Equinix told The Straits Times it is aware that a technical issue at one of its data centres impacted some customers' operations, including DBS, and it is investigating.

"The technical issue has since been resolved, and we are in contact with those impacted customers and have expressed our sincere apologies," it added.

A Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) spokesperson said it was informed by both banks on Saturday afternoon that their customers had difficulties accessing banking or payment services. "Preliminary investigations indicate that the service disruptions were caused by an issue at a common data centre that is used by the banks."

The spokesperson said MAS has been following up closely with the banks to resume services fully, as well as to support and communicate with affected customers.

DBS said it expects to progressively restore services from 7pm. It added at 10.10pm that all its ATMs were working.

All its branches had been reactivated to assist its customers, except those at Tampines Central, Tampines One and White Sands.

DBS said: "We seek your patience as we recover our services."

Earlier, DBS acknowledged on Facebook that its customers were unable to access its banking services and apologised for the inconvenience caused.

It also said its systems have not been compromised.

Citi said in a 6.58pm Facebook post that its mobile app and Internet banking services were down.

When contacted, a Citi spokesperson said: "We have a temporary outage in our banking services and have started progressively restoring services. We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused."

Netizens complained on the HardwareZone forum and commented on DBS' and POSB's posts on Facebook about being unable to access the bank's app and website, as well as use their cards to make payments in stores.

Also, supermarket chain FairPrice's app warned users that payment using DBS, POSB and Citibank was unavailable.

Error messages were shown on DBS' and POSB's apps, alongside a notice saying maintenance would be carried out. However, checks by The Straits Times on the DBS website showed that maintenance had not been scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

DBS customers were reportedly unable to use the bank's ATMs in Toa Payoh, Bishan and Sengkang.

DBS customers experienced delays and other payment issues most recently on Sept 26, while using the bank's PayNow service. According to Downdetector, there were 163 complaints at 3.53pm that day.

The MAS said on Oct 2 that it was working with DBS to pinpoint the cause of the disruption to the bank's PayNow and Fast And Secure Transfers (Fast) services. Fast is an electronic interbank fund transfer service.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.