SINGAPORE: The interruption to NETS payments services that began on Monday (Sept 23) is apparently still ongoing for some Singaporeans. This has left some users feeling disappointed and frustrated.
The NETS group first announced that some debit and credit card transactions through NETS terminals were unavailable at 10:12 on Monday morning through a post on its Facebook account.
NETS apologized for the inconvenience it caused its customers and reassured the public that it was working to restore services as soon as possible.
At 11:40 am, an update was issued, saying that some NETS terminals were temporarily unavailable and that the affected terminals could not perform QR, tap, and PIN transactions.
“Customers are advised to use SGQR (Singapore Quick Response Code) or pay by cash in the meantime,” it said.
NETS’ last update was issued shortly before 11:00 pm, with the group saying that some of its terminals were still experiencing partial unavailability.
In a Reddit post, Singaporeans said they could not use NETS at Sheng Shiong grocery stores, while another reported that he could not top up his cash card.
The Edge Singapore reported that around 5 per cent of NETS’ terminal network could not perform QR, tap, and PIN transactions since Monday morning.
On Monday, DBS made a related announcement over Facebook at 1:28 pm, informing people that NETS had told the bank that payment transactions, including QR, credit or debit, and NETS card transactions via some NETS terminals were “temporarily unavailable.”
DBS then advised users to utilize PayNow for payments or DBS/POSB digibank and PayLah! to scan and pay SGQR codes.
By Tuesday morning, some Singaporeans commented on NETS’s Facebook page to say that services were still unavailable.
“Hello NETS Day 2 already! Still no updates if issues resolved??” wrote one.
“Two days already still haven’t fixed yet; you guys sleeping or working?” another chimed in.
While one wrote that NETS services were “still not working for me,” another said he could not get through to the hotline.
Others worried about the loss of business they experienced due to the disruption.
NETS, which stands for Network for Electronic Transfers, was officially launched in 1986 to establish the debit network and facilitate the easy adoption of electronic payments in Singapore.
The NETS group is jointly owned by DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, and United Overseas Bank (UOB).
NETS debit system was designated as a national payment system by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 2011, and by 2018, the service could be used in thousands of acceptance points in Malaysia
As of the end of 2023, NETS had a network of around 10 million cards and 130,000 payment touchpoints in the city-state. /TISG
Read also: NETS service disruption occurred due to “human error” not security issues or risks