Customers with Westpac and St George have experienced difficulties accessing their internet banking for the third day in a row.

Westpac restored services on the same day the outages were reported on Monday and Tuesday this week, but did not elaborate on what caused the issues.

Westpac issued an apology to customers on X on Wednesday morning and said it was working to fix the issue.

According to outage tracker Downdetector, there were around 2,000 reports of issues at 8am AEDT on Wednesday across Westpac, St George, Bank of Melbourne and Bank SA.

Five hours later, a Westpac spokesperson told ABC News that services were restored.

“We know how important it is to have access to online banking… We’ll continue to actively monitor the situation. Thank you for your patience,” a statement read.

“Customers do not need to take any action.”

However, at 1:05pm AEDT some customers were still unable to login to St George or Westpac apps, while others had been able to gain access.

Over the several days of disruptions, some customers couldn’t login to mobile app banking services, while others say they were unable to load Westpac’s online banking site at all.

Westpac customer James Price, from Mildura, described this week’s outages as a major inconvenience.

“I had urgent transactions to complete earlier this week that weren’t possible,” Mr Price said.

“I also recently made a large transfer in a branch which I was charged an extortionate amount for not doing online.

Loading…

Customers warned to be ‘vigilant’ of scammers

Westpac has not said what is behind the outages, but Treasurer Jim Chalmers confirmed the government has been in contact with the bank, calling it “really concerning developments”.

“When something like that happens, it enlivens the cybersecurity part of our government,” the treasurer said.

“We do work closely, whether it’s with the banks or the other businesses and organisations, to make sure when something happens like this, as unwelcome as it is, that we’re responding when we can and that we’re also worth keeping each other informed as things develop.

“Unfortunately this is a sign of the times, we are seeing more of these sorts of interruptions in an economy which is becoming increasingly digital, and where the (technology) changes so fast, we are at risk of some of these sorts of interruptions.”

On X, Westpac warned customers to be “vigilant of potential scams”, saying some scammers may take advantage of the disruptions to impersonate the bank and offer help.

“We urge customers to be extra alert and call us if they are concerned.”

Customers who suffer financial loss should contact bank: AFCA

A number of those affected took to social media to complain, some concerned about missed payments or potential late fees.

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) told ABC News that anyone who suffers a loss as a result of an outage should first approach their bank.

“We understand that system outages are frustrating and can cause inconvenience, however, AFCA can only consider complaints about system outages if a consumer has experienced a loss, and the complaint otherwise falls within our rules,” lead ombudsman for banking and finance, Natalie Cameron, said.

“If you encounter difficulties which you are unable to resolve directly with your bank, AFCA may be able to consider your complaint.”

Loading…

If you’re unable to load the form, click here.