Payments failures hits NZ
(26 April 2012 – New Zealand) A nationwide computer error on the eve of ANZAC Day stalled thousands of overnight payments.
What caused the industry-wide banking glitch is un-known, but it prevented payments ranging from small everyday transactions to salaries going through.
Steven Nichols, Chief executive of Payments New Zealand, the company which oversees payments between banks, said tens of thousands of people were potentially affected by the glitch.
Mr Nichols said the problem was due to a failure of the Swift system, the international co-operative that manages transferring money between banks.
The error was discovered at around 2am this morning, prompting hundreds of experts from all banks to work through the night to process the backlog of payments, said Mr Nichols.
'Every step is being taken to ensure the continuous flow of payment occurs,' he added.
New Zealand’s Banks have said they will not charge for payments that bounced due to the error and the banking industry refused to comment on whether Swift will face a financial penalty for the failure.
Steven Nichols, Chief executive of Payments New Zealand, the company which oversees payments between banks, said tens of thousands of people were potentially affected by the glitch.
Mr Nichols said the problem was due to a failure of the Swift system, the international co-operative that manages transferring money between banks.
The error was discovered at around 2am this morning, prompting hundreds of experts from all banks to work through the night to process the backlog of payments, said Mr Nichols.
'Every step is being taken to ensure the continuous flow of payment occurs,' he added.
New Zealand’s Banks have said they will not charge for payments that bounced due to the error and the banking industry refused to comment on whether Swift will face a financial penalty for the failure.
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