DBS hit with yet another service outage, just 2 days after MAS ban expired

SINGAPORE: DBS and POSB digital banking customers faced yet another service outage yesterday evening (2 May), barely two days after a six-month ban on non-essential information technology system changes finally expired on Tuesday (30 Apr).

The latest outage has raised concerns about the stability of the bank’s digital infrastructure.

According to DownDetector, a website that monitors network status, reports of issues began surfacing around 5:45pm.

Customers quickly turned to social media to express their frustration, with many stating that they were unable to log in to their mobile or online banking accounts. Some customers said that although they could log in, they were unable to make transfers or complete transactions using the popular PayNow and DBS PayLah! payment platforms.

By 6:54pm, DBS had acknowledged the outage with a post on its official Facebook page. The bank assured customers that it had identified the cause of the service disruption and was working to restore normal operations.

An updated statement from DBS at 8:15pm confirmed that services had been restored. According to the bank, digital services at DBS and POSB resumed operations at 7:37pm and 7:41pm, respectively. The PayLah! App payment service was restored at 8:03pm.

DBS also issued an apology for the inconvenience caused by the outage.

The recent outage comes in the wake of last year’s recurring service failures, which prompted the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to impose a six-month moratorium on non-essential IT system changes at DBS.

The ban, which was intended to allow the bank to focus on strengthening its IT systems and improving service stability, was lifted earliee this week.

The repeated outages have had broader implications for the bank’s leadership. The disruptions were a contributing factor to DBS CEO Piyush Gupta taking a significant pay cut in the past year.

Customers and industry observers are watching closely to see how DBS addresses these ongoing issues, as frequent service disruptions could erode customer trust and impact the bank’s reputation.