It`s been a worrying few months for Internet banking clients. The Absa e-fraud raised nagging questions about e-banking security, then the eBucks site spent a fortnight crashing, staggering back up again and falling down.
When the Sunday Times ran an article on a 'hacker` demonstrating how easily Absa accounts could be accessed, consumers started worrying anew. FNB quickly responded with an e-mail to its clients, saying that (while its site wasn`t always live) it was always secure.
Judging by the comments posted by ITWeb readers, eBucks is not the only online banking service with problems.
Tracy Burrows, News editor, ITWeb
To further ease the minds of clients, the letter pointed out that they could sign up for the 'In Contact` service, which notifies users of any transactions on their accounts. As an eBucks client myself, I clicked through to sign up at once. Oh dear. After I`d input all my data, a technical error prevented me from signing up. I wasn`t the only one.
I`m getting used to these glitches with eBucks. Several weeks ago, technical errors prevented any money transfers to non-FNB accounts for a few days. And a (presumably) technical error has held up my attempts at buying MTN airtime for up to two months at a time. Despite an extra team of call centre agents on duty at the eBucks hotline, no one can tell me where my airtime is.
Judging by the comments posted by ITWeb readers, eBucks is not the only online banking service with problems, although just lately, it has stood out as one of the worst. Which is fairly embarrassing for me, since I recently waxed lyrical about e-banking as the best banking option in a country infested with gun-toting criminals.
With its latest spate of problems, I have to wonder if I have been seriously misguided in my faith in e-banking and this bank in particular. After all, if eBucks claims to be reliable, convenient and just waiting to help me, then turns out not to be any of these things, should I believe it when it claims to be secure?
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