Republic Bank Limited (RBL) is owning up to the glitch which caused unauthorised payments and reversals to be deducted from customers’ credit card accounts recently.
In a release yesterday, RBL blamed technical issues with its credit card processing system for unauthorised transactions and reversals from card holders who were clients of other banks.
However, the bank assured customers that the issue had been corrected.
The release stated, “Republic Bank is aware that several credit card holders of other banks saw transactions that were conducted between August 14 to September 6 at certain merchants, being reversed and re-posted within the past few weeks.
“The bank acknowledges that this was because of technical challenges experienced with our credit card processing system which resulted in the original transactions being incorrectly processed as USD transactions. The bank also confirms that these issues have since been corrected.”
It added, “We are working closely with all the local banks to identify impacted customers and will be taking all steps necessary to address any discrepancies. We appreciate the concern that this situation has caused to customers and our valued merchant partners and for this, we sincerely apologise.”
Speaking to Guardian Media yesterday, a senior bank official said none of its own customers were affected.
However, the bank is still trying to determine how many card holders of other banks were hit.
Asked how much money was taken, the official was unable to say.
Most affected credit card holders who came forward in recent days complaining of monies lost said they were refunded in part by PriceSmart, one of the companies which seemed to have been severely affected during the unauthorised activity.
However, Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon said it was not only a PriceSmart issue.
On Monday, the Bankers’ Association of Trinidad and Tobago said it launched an investigation into the matter.
Meanwhile, Guardian Media understands the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service’s (TTPS) Fraud Squad is yet to receive any complaints and as such no investigation has been launched into the matter.
Guardian Media also contacted the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago to find out if it is investigating the matter but received no response up to press time.
Efforts to contact the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards and PriceSmart were also unsuccessful yesterday.