Customers of Commonwealth Bank are still complaining of problems with cards and online banking, despite the bank saying it has restored all services.
Disgruntled customers took to Twitter to say that their cards were not working and they could not access the online banking site, NetBank.
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By GlobalDataAbout two hours after first announcing it was experiencing difficulties, CommBank said via Twitter: "All services are restored, including ATMs, NetBank and EFTPOS. We thank you for your patience and apologise for any inconvenience caused."
Despite this announcement, many customers said they were still having problems.
Twitter user @drumondo said: "@CommBank I think you’d better have another look…#justsaying"
In addition to reporting continuing lack of services, some customers criticised the bank for failing to provide details on what caused the problem.
CommBank later said: "Some of our customers are still experiencing issues now services are restored. These are being resolved as priority. Thanks and more to come."
CommBank has come under fire in the last few days for its response to customers’ concerns over the Heartbleed bug.
Drew Unsworth, general manager of digital channels and online banking posted a blog entry about the bug on 10 April.
He said: "I’m happy to report that our customers can rest assured we are patched against the ‘Heartbleed’ bug and you do not need to change your NetBank password.
"This is a testament to the hard work of our security teams who constantly monitor and stay abreast of the latest security technologies, trends and updates."
The post threw customers into confusion, with many saying the wording implied that NetBank had been vulnerable to Heartbleed in the past and therefore the assertion that customers need not change their passwords was nonsensical.
Many users complained that when they asked for clarification, the bank simply repeated the statements in the blog.
User jamesmac2 wrote: "Thanks for the update, though I’m not sure I understand.
"If CBA applied a patch for heartbleed, why don’t I need to change my password? It must have been vulnerable.
"Wouldn’t it be better to change my password to not be exposed to heartbleed?"
A moderator replied: "Hi @jamesmac, you do not need to change your NetBank password. We are patched against the Heart Bleed bug.
"We are dedicated to ensuring our data and that of our customers is safe and secure. We take matters of security very seriously and our security teams are always up to date with all of the latest security developments so that we can continually strengthen the protections we have in place."
The bank finally provided some clarification to the original blog, but not before driving many customers to distraction with its evasive replies.
The updated blog said: "We have had requests for more technical detail around the Heartbleed bug and we are happy to provide clarification.
"NetBank does not (and did not) use OpenSSL. All customer data is safe, so customers do not need to change their NetBank passwords or take any action."
Related articles:
Australia’s Commonwealth Bank hit by network-wide technical problem
US regulator urges banks to deal with Heartbleed bug
Heartbleed bug causes havoc online as retailers and banks affected
