RBC’s 3-day digital woes an ‘absolute catastrophe’

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) yesterday pledged it is “working diligently” to restore its digital banking platform with businesses branding the three-day woe as “an absolute catastrophe” for commerce.

Multiple Bahamian companies told Tribune Business that the “crazy” situation had left them unable to make or receive payments, and conduct transactions vital to the smooth functioning of business, after they were “locked out” of their accounts when RBC’s online and mobile banking platform went down.

“Business has not been conducted for three days now due to RBC Online Banking being out of order,” one irate businessman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. “This the equivalent to Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) being out of fuel for three days, and the generator can’t run. It’s an absolute catastrophe. Please let us know why this is happening when everything now is done now online.”

RBC’s problems come at a time when the Central Bank, and the entire commercial banking sector, are driving Bahamian businesses and consumers to increasingly conduct business electronically via the Internet and mobile phones. The industry regulator is pushing to eliminate cheques by year-end 2024, and reduce reliance on other manual payment forms, but the issues encountered at RBC - long regarded as the Government’s bank and having the most corporate customers - adds weight to arguments this is too hasty and premature.

Another business owner, also speaking on condition of anonymity, shared a screen shot detailing an “unexpected outage” and saying: “RBC Caribbean Digital App is currently unable to launch. We will investigate the issue and try to resolve it as soon as possible.”

They added: “It’s crazy, and I can’t get any answer. We just cannot access our online accounts. I can’t pay my bills and am not sure how I am going to pay my staff tomorrow [today]. You cannot pay anybody. I am going to have to write my staff a cheque if this goes on like this. It’s been going on for three days.

“I cannot get into my account, I cannot pay anybody, I can’t see if I’ve been paid by anybody. If I go to the bank and get a ledger, they say they’ve been working on it around the clock but this is the third day. I see on Facebook that there are a million people complaining they cannot get access to their account.

“People are complaining that they can’t pay anybody. Some people have tried to sign in and been locked out of their account. It spins and you get this ‘unexpected outage’, or something that appears to be wrong. I got in and paid one bill yesterday, and then it spins and spins and kicks you out.”

The businessman added: “If I can’t pay my bills, do we go back to writing cheques? I still have them, can locate them and dust them off. They want to eliminate cheques, don’t want you to come into the bank, but how can you do business if you cannot access your online account?

“It’s getting to the end of the week, end of the month, when bills have to be paid. I’ve already warned my staff they will have to get paid by cheque tomorrow if it’s not fixed. In this day of online banking and digital transfers, with them basically telling you to stop writing cheques and stop coming into the branch, commerce has stopped if you bank with RBC.

“I love the idea of online. I love it and embraced it, but this has got to work. I love not standing in line like I used to, but it has got to work. It cannot be down for three days.” Their account was backed by other Bahamian corporate customers and online banking users, who revealed they have either been completely locked out or only enjoyed sporadic access to their accounts and digital payments over the past three days.

However, several said access had started to improve yesterday afternoon. RBC yesterday confirmed that the problems are Caribbean-wide, affecting all its territories including The Bahamas, and stemmed from a system upgrade implemented at the weekend.

An RBC spokesperson, responding to Tribune Business inquiries, said: “I can confirm that RBC Royal Bank is currently experiencing some technology difficulties with our digital banking platform. As a result, RBC clients may have experienced slow response time, intermittently, while trying to log-on or transact via RBC Digital Banking (online banking and mobile app).

“We know this is a significant inconvenience and we are working diligently to resolve this urgently. In fact, we are already seeing a significant improvement of our platform’s performance since this afternoon. In the interim, we suggest to try to transact via RBC Digital Banking during off-peak business hours, as we have seen greater success for digital transactions during those hours.

“Alternatively, clients can continue to make use of our ATMs or pay with their cards at any point-of-sale device for most of their day-to-day transactions. For more complex transactions only, we invite clients to visit a branch closest to them. Again, we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this is causing our clients and thank them for their patience.”

Comments

Well_mudda_take_sic says...

Unreliable electricity from a bankrupt BPL, combined with failing internet service providers like Cable Bahamas and BTC, do not permit total reliance and dependence on online banking services.

Not even in the much more developed countries like the U.S. and Canada are individuals and businesses forced to rely exclusively on online banking services in the way that CIBC FirstCaribbean is proposing.

This recent melt-down in RBC's online banking system is the very reason why our Minister of Finance and Central Bank should be insisting all licensed commercial banks maintain an adequate number of properly staffed and located bricks and mortar branches commensurate with the footprint and size of their book of banking business in The Bahamas.

This is all just common sense.

Posted 15 December 2022, 10:31 a.m. Suggest removal

LastManStanding says...

Agreed 100%.

Posted 16 December 2022, 11:52 a.m. Suggest removal

Well_mudda_take_sic says...

Just heard a rumour from a friend here in Montana that the cyber elite within the U.S. intelligence apparatus may be flexing its muscle to show corrupt high ranking former and current Bahamian government officials just how easy it is for the U.S. government to shutdown our entire banking system. This RBC incident could well be a threatening message from the U.S. government of things to come if The Bahamas does not 'play ball' in accommodating reasonable demands made by John Ray III for information he needs in connection with his ongoing efforts to recover what was embezzled (stolen) by SBF and his cohorts from FTX customers.

The scale of Mr. Ray's investigatory powers and resources are enormous given that they are now regarded by the Republicans who will be controlling the U.S. House of Reps to be multi-jurisdictional. A small rural bank that FTX/Deltec purchased in Spokane, Washington, which over-night blossomed into a much larger bank, has been found by Mr. Ray to have most unusual ties to the majority owner of Deltec Bank in The Bahamas with tentacles of its operations spanning to Turks & Caicos, the BVI and Hong Kong, among other jurisdictions.

Posted 15 December 2022, 11:07 a.m. Suggest removal

DillyTree says...

And thsi, boys and girls, is why digital banking is a disaster! Yet the government and the banks all try to drive us online rather than the brick and mortar branches.

Don't kid yourselves, the banks are making money, or they wouldn't be here. But I hold the government responsible -- they need to hold a hard line. If you want a license to do business in the Bahamas, you open and operate a branch when and where we tell you to. That we have out islands with NO banks is a travesty in this day and age. And, no, the damn Sand Dollar isn't the answer.

Posted 15 December 2022, 1:17 p.m. Suggest removal

killemwitdakno says...

This is so strange. I've never heard of it.

Posted 16 December 2022, 12:38 a.m. Suggest removal

Bonefishpete says...

FTX can move $100 million in 25.5 hours. Come on RBC up your game.

Posted 16 December 2022, 3:21 a.m. Suggest removal

Porcupine says...

Freedom is a thing of the past.
We are now powerless.
We have turned over the power to those who do not care about anything but themselves.
Our unflattering ignorance has allowed it to happen, and for it to continue.
We have helped enslave ourselves. Keep voting PLP and FNM, and expecting something different? Just more greed and dishonesty. And, we keep falling for it.

Posted 16 December 2022, 7:33 a.m. Suggest removal

sheeprunner12 says...

How can the 242 Govt extricate itself from the monster called RBC???

That is the billion dollar question ......

Posted 16 December 2022, 2:33 p.m. Suggest removal

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