All credit and debit card customers affected by duplicate transactions have been given refunds: DBS

SINGAPORE - DBS Bank has given refunds to all customers affected by a payment processing glitch, which charged them twice for transactions made with credit and debit cards.

Singapore’s largest bank said in a Facebook post on Saturday (June 19) that all duplicate card transactions have been refunded and any fees - as a result of the error - will be waived.

“Our systems are safe, secure and uncompromised. We apologise for any undue anxiety and regret the inconvenience caused,” it added.

DBS did not say how many customers were affected and what the value of the transactions was.

It first acknowledged the issue on Twitter at around 11.20am on Friday. By 7.50pm, DBS said the glitch had been resolved.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore said it had instructed DBS to conduct a thorough investigation and submit a report. Supervisory action will be taken if the bank has fallen short of  its expectations, it added.

Some customers told ST that they were on Friday charged again for items they had already paid for between Monday and Thursday. These included transactions made on Grab, booking platform Klook and retail purchases using POSB or DBS debit cards.

Others said online that the transactions caused their bank accounts to go into a negative balance.

ALSO READ: Private-hire driver left with negative $250 in bank balance after duplicate transactions caused by DBS glitch

When alarmed customers tried to call the bank’s customer service hotline, many were not able to get through to an operator.

Those who wanted to check their bank accounts through the app or Internet banking portal from about 10.30am on Friday were also unable to do so. The banking portal warned users of heavy traffic to the site at the time.

A message also circulated online on Friday claiming that POSB digibank online’s security had been breached and urging customers not to log into the Internet banking platform. 

DBS said the message was inaccurate.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times.