DBS online banking and payment services experience widespread outages

SINGAPORE: DBS Bank, one of Singapore’s leading financial institutions, faced a major service disruption on Saturday (14 Oct), with online banking and payment services experiencing significant outages. Customers also reported difficulties in withdrawing cash from ATMs.

Numerous customers attempted to log in to DBS’ digital banking services, only to be met with an error message that read: “We are experiencing heavy traffic to our services. You will be redirected shortly. Alternatively, please log in later.”

Concurrently, some customers reported issues with using DBS’ PayLah! mobile payment services.

Downdetector, a website that monitors service disruptions, recorded a sudden surge in reports related to DBS, with more than 3,900 reports flooding in by 4:00 pm.

Many disgruntled users took to DBS’ official Facebook page to express their frustrations, with dozens of comments lamenting the service outage and its impact on their banking transactions.

In response to the disruption, DBS issued a statement via its official Facebook page, saying, “Our customers are not able to access our banking services for the time being. We seek your patience while we actively work to resolve the issue. We are reactivating our branches to assist you with your transaction requests. Please be assured that our systems are uncompromised. We will provide updates here as soon as they become available. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused.”

The outage has raised concerns among customers about the reliability of digital banking services, especially in a time when online transactions have become increasingly integral to daily life.

DBS has not provided a timeline for when services will be fully restored, but users are advised to stay updated through the bank’s official communication channels for further information.

Similar spikes in outage reports were also noted for popular platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Singtel, among others, suggesting a broader issue with online services during this timeframe. Although, popular social media platform, X (formerly Twitter) does not seem to have the same issue.