Laser card users left overdrawn after Bank of Ireland's double-charge glitch
Wednesday September 09 2009
UP to 120,000 Bank of Ireland customers were mistakenly doubled charged amounts totalling millions of euro every time they used their Laser card since last Friday.
Bank staff worked through the night to refund customers affected by the Laser card error.
The bank issued a statement following the incident, which resulted in a duplication of transactions in some cases. It said the issues were "resolved" last night.
According to reports today, some 120,000 customers were affected by the mistake.
The bank admitted that a problem with its software meant customers had their accounts debited on the double when they used their cards in the past few days.
Some customers complained about being overdrawn because of the mistaken duplications.
Discovered
People who used their cards to pay €120 for their groceries, for example, ended up being charged €120 on the day of the transaction and then €120 a few days later.
The bank admitted last night there was a problem with its Laser cards and promised to refund money to any customers who were overcharged. The problem was discovered yesterday afternoon.
A spokeswoman for the bank described it as a "glitch in the bank's system" and insisted that no customer would be left out of pocket once staff have completed an intensive investigation of all Laser transactions in the past few days.
The Financial Regulator has been notified.
The bank refused to comment on the amount of money or the numbers of customers involved.
But a number of customers affected by the mistake said bank staff told them as many as 120,000 people had been affected. One woman said she had been pushed into an overdraft situation after she made a purchase on her Laser card that was debited on the double from her bank account.
She called for the bank, which is protected by the State, to waive any overdraft fees charged as a result of the error.
The overcharging error is the latest controversy to affect the bank, which was forced to ask taxpayers to stump up €3.5bn to recapitalise it earlier this year after it made huge losses on toxic developer loans.
mlavery@herald.ie
- Michael Lavery
