The Ayala Group’s Bank of the Philippine Islands said on Wednesday it was working to resolve duplicate transactions “within the day” after clients complained of unauthorized withdrawals.
In an advisory, BPI said this affected some of its automated teller machines (ATM), cash accept machines (CAM) and point of sale (POS) transactions before New Year’s Eve.
The bank, however, assured its clients that their accounts “are safe and secure.”
“Some ATM, CAM deposits, POS and e-commerce debit transactions from Dec 30 to 31, 2022 were posted twice. We are already working to reverse the duplicate transactions,” it said.
A company spokesman has yet to reply to queries on the cause of the glitch.
BPI’s mobile app remained inaccessible as of 10:40 a.m. on Wednesday.
“Given the high volume of inquiries on our online banking channels, you may experience intermittent access to our web and mobile app platforms,” BPI said.
Timeline, updates submission to BSP
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has directed BPI to provide a timeline and updates on the issue, particularly on the reversal of its erroneous transactions.
The BSP is in close coordination with the said bank amid the double debit transaction incident.
“The bank already identified the root cause of the operational error and committed to reverse the erroneous transactions and restore mobile and internet banking services the soonest possible time,” the BSP said in a statement.
Following the debit duplication incident, “0431 Debit Memo” and “Hoy BPI” topped the Philippine trending list on social media platform Twitter.
The term 0431 Debit Memo is a general term for all debit transactions, whether for withdrawals, funds transfers and bills payments, the lender said in a previous explanation.
Twitter users posted their dismay on the matter.
“0431 debit memo after the [airport] fiasco. From one glitch to another? Ang saya naman (what fun) ng 2023. Is this the retrograde at work?” one user wrote.
“Yung gusto mo lang sana magpahinga sa bahay buong araw pero parang mapapasugod ka sa bangko ng BPI para macheck balance mo dahil sa 0431 Debit Memo na ito!” another user lamented.
(When you just want to rest at home the whole day but it looks like you will have to run to the bank to check your balance because of this 0431 Debit Memo!)
“Hoy BPI what kind of service is this? It is unthinkable that you have ‘trust funds’ stored in your system yet your system glitches. [B]anks should be secure and reliable all the time,” a user stated.
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What to do in case of error in your BPI account
What happened to BPI transactions on Dec 30-31
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