Complaints of login issues and account suspensions have been on the rise since the country’s national bank, the Bank of Maldives (BML) upgraded its internet banking platform. A BML customer told Sun recently that he has been having difficulties logging into his internet banking account, since the upgrade.
“I could not login with my usual user name and password. I called the bank and its still not resolved. Now I can't use the credit card to make overseas transactions,” he said.
Other BML customers have also shared complaints of suspended accounts and difficulties with making transactions from Point of Sales (POS) systems in retail outlets.
“I changed the password and received a message that the account has been suspended. I was then asked to key-in the my username and email address. But it says that my email address doesn’t match. I have emailed the bank, but its been 24 hours and I have not heard back,” another frustrated customer told Sun.
Bank of Maldives has yet to make a public statement regarding problems with its internet banking platform. However, the bank’s card centre said that they are receiving numerous complaints of internet banking difficulties each day. They also assured that every email will receive a reply within 24 hours of an inquiry.
The bank‘s ATM services, credit and debit card services and mobile banking services were disrupted from 11:30 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, soon after the bank migrated to its new internet banking platform. In a statement on Thursday, BML stated that in a bid to make internet banking friendlier, customers would now have to use their username and password to login, as opposed to the previous method, which prompted for a security code.
The bank also stated customers would find it easier to check their account balance and make online transactions, although an online transactions would still be subjected security features such as one-time passwords.