OCBC says account balances not affected after some customers receive multiple SMS alerts on duplicate transaction records

OCBC Bank said at around 11.45pm on Thursday night that it had fixed the issue of multiple SMS alerts, but it added that it would temporarily disable Internet and mobile banking services to remove duplicate transaction records. PHOTO: REUTERS

SINGAPORE - A few hundred OCBC Bank customers received multiple SMS alerts and noticed duplicate transaction records on their Internet and mobile banking devices on Thursday night (May 2).

This prompted the bank to reassure customers in a Facebook post at about 11pm that their account balances have not been affected.

OCBC Bank said at around 11.45pm that it had fixed the issue of multiple SMS alerts, but it added that it would temporarily disable Internet and mobile banking services for an hour to remove duplicate transaction records.

After a slight delay, the services were back up at about 1.30am. The bank also apologised for the inconvenience caused.

The Straits Times understands that a few hundred OCBC Bank customers were affected, though the bank did not reveal the exact number.

Several customers left comments on the bank's Facebook post of their experience.

User Guoliang said that he received more than 20 SMS alerts at once for a previous transaction he made.

Another user, Ricky Ho, said that a transaction he made on Wednesday appeared to have been deducted five times.

User Seah Thiam Seng Sam wrote: "Yes... I only transferred one time, but there are five duplicated transactions on my mobile banking. Called your customer service but can't get through even after waiting for 1 hour."

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