NASSAU, BAHAMAS — CIBC First Caribbean International Bank (FCIB) said yesterday that it is working to address ‘intermittent’ issues across its online banking platform, mobile app and corporate online services, with businesses branding the disruption as a “serious issue” which is “hurting commerce.”
Several local businesses told Eyewitness News that the issue had left them unable to complete transactions with customers and vendors as the corporate online services were “up and down” over the past few days.
Michael Fields, President and CEO of Four Walls Squash and Social Club in an email to FCIB personnel noted that the two-day period was well beyond any recovery timeline in any disaster recovery plan mandatory for clearing banks and their critical systems.
Banks simply can’t just pocket the savings from branch closing without simultaneously investing in technology infrastructure.
– Michael Fields, President and CEO of Four Walls Squash and Social Club
“I experience frequent issues with your system (at least weekly there is a partial outage issue) that are often ignored by FCIB,” Fields wrote. “The customer just has to keep trying until things magically start working again with no promised timeline. Obviously, nothing will change unless this matter escalates.
“This is a serious issue that affects commerce in The Bahamas. Banks have literally forced people to use online systems (which is fine with me), but those systems are now critical to the country’s commerce.”
He continued: “Banks have enjoyed huge savings by reducing in-person branch services. To balance this, there must be substantial investment to ensure system outages are extremely rare. Banks simply can’t just pocket the savings from branch closing without simultaneously investing in technology infrastructure.
“I also run a cashless business and experience frequent interruptions with FCIB credit machines and infrastructure. The machines are outdated, and the infrastructure has frequent issues. I literally had to go to another bank to get another machine as a backup for when FCIB has ‘phantom issues.’ I am tired of resetting credit card machines and issues with online banking.”
Another local businessman noted: “This issue has been quite frustrating to say the least. Banking services are crucial to commerce and when it’s not working it’s literally crippling your businesses.”
CIBC First Caribbean in a notice yesterday stated that the “intermittent issues” may be due to “heavy traffic.”
“Though these services remain available, you may experience delays accessing them and completing transactions. Our technical crews are working to resolve the issue and we will advise when our normal levels of service are achieved,” the statement read.
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