Ayer Hitam MP, Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has asked the government to consider imposing hefty fines for banks when their e-payment or online payment services fail due to outages and downtimes without prior warning to the customers.
Wee said that such happenings might cause untold frustration, embarrassment and anger for consumers, who might find themselves in a situation where they are unable to make payment due to unexpected bank downtime.
In a Facebook post, Wee stated that due to this, he urges the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to start imposing hefty fines on banks to act as a deterrent against unexpected downtimes.
“Literally tens of millions of Malaysians are affected when such downtime or glitches occur without prior warnings.
“Therefore I call on the Ministry of Finance and BNM to impose hefty penalties on banks to act as a deterrent against any unannounced downtime and to ensure banks offer better services,” said Wee in his Facebook post.
Wee’s Facebook post was spurred by a recent event where a Maybank system glitch caused chaos at Shah Alam’s iCity.
Last Friday, an X user shared that Maybank’s system experienced a crucial glitch which caused hundreds of motorists to be stuck in the i-City shopping mall.
Apalah masalah maybank ni. Asyik offline time crucial. Tengok apa jd dlm icity, motor, reta stuck. Takleh keluaqq. Berkicap mat tunggu. Solution dia mgt icity buka palang bg keluar free. Kalau icity gulung tikaqqq sebab bg kami parking free, semua salah hang😭😭😭 @MyMaybank pic.twitter.com/DErZhV7Z5F
— YB Kentang🥔🐛🇲🇾🇵🇸 (@tghanaatiana) April 5, 2024
In the end, the i-City management had to just let everyone out without making payment, which might have incurred losses to them, according to the X user.
