Letter of the day

Forum: Reserving new notes online with banks was frustrating affair

A person holding a stack of dollar notes. PHOTO: IRAS

Given the announcement that banks would accept only online reservations for new notes for Chinese New Year, I am shocked that our local banks seem unprepared to handle the deluge of people going online to make reservations. (MAS encourages Singaporeans to opt for e-hongbao this CNY, Jan 12).

When the online booking system for DBS Bank and OCBC Bank went live at 9am on Monday, I went online to reserve my notes. I had assumed that the banks, with their technical know-how, would be able to handle the online demand.

However, I was sorely mistaken and frustrated by technical issues on the banks' side.

At OCBC, I tried for 2½ hours before I finally got through and managed to reserve the notes.

At DBS, I tried for three hours before giving up.

It would have taken me less time to get my notes if I had physically queued at the bank outlets.

Though there is a national drive to go digital and be a smart nation, if our banks are unable to handle online requests, people will still prefer to head down to the bank to do their transactions, because it is less frustrating and quicker that way.

Han Ming Guang

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 20, 2021, with the headline Forum: Reserving new notes online with banks was frustrating affair. Subscribe