Dutch banking giant ING Groep N.V. (NYSE:ING) suffered a system breakdown Wednesday that angered thousands of customers across Netherlands, reports Nos Television.
Retail and business customers couldn’t use their direct debit cards, and their online accounts were showing incorrect balances.
In many cases, thousands of euros “disappeared” from people’s accounts, while others said their account balances fattened as a result of error. Even people who were not allowed to overdraw, found that their counts were deep in the red due to double bookings, victims told DutchNews.
Many supermarkets in the country reported that long queues built up at payments counter because people were unable to pay.
Initially, ING Groep N.V. (NYSE:ING) said that there were only a few incidences, but a bank spokesperson later admitted that the issue was a lot more serious. ING Groep N.V. (NYSE:ING)’s online banking website was out of action until yesterday as thousands of customers tried to check if their bank balances were safe. A large number of panicked customers made the telephone helpline difficult to reach.
Furious customers vented their anger through telephone, online forums and social media. The bank spokesman Harold Reusken said that the direct debit and online payments were not affected. He assured customers that the correct balances were in the bank’s computer systems, but people couldn’t see correct amounts due to delay in payment traffic. Reusken said that as soon as all the withdrawals and deposits have been checked, people could see their correct bank balances.
ING Groep N.V. (NYSE:ING) said that though online balances appeared incorrect, actual account balances were not affected at all. The bank said the problem was fixed late Wednesday night. ING Groep N.V. (NYSE:ING) reiterated that the processing problem was not a result of computer hacking.
ING bank’s rival Rabobank reported separately that it too faced online banking problems on Wednesday. Rabobank’s glitches prevented people from requesting loans online.
American shares of ING Groep N.V. (NYSE:ING) were down 2.49 percent to $7.24 billion at 10:18 AM EDT.
