A major outage of online fast inter-bank transfer system Osko has left payments in limbo, with the Reserve Bank admitting fault.
The RBA said an error occurred during a planned software change, which stopped the sending or receiving of critical files between 7:01pm AEDT Wednesday night and 12:34am Thursday morning.
Transaction settlement notifications normally sent by the Reserve Bank's systems to financial institutions were either delayed or not sent between 7:21pm and 11:47pm, disrupting Osko, which is part of the New Payments Platform.
Payment service Osko allows customers to send money online almost immediately and is used by 85 Australian banks.
Some banks self-suspended Osko payments after noticing issues with transfers.
It is unclear how many bank customers have been affected by the outage, but the ABC has been told the number is "significant", with the system used for most electronic transfers between bank accounts.
The RBA said it is still working with banks to clear the backlog of payments.
"We sincerely apologise to industry participants and customers for the inconvenience and disruption caused," RBA deputy governor Michelle Bullock said in a statement.
"I want to assure people that the bank takes the stability of the payments infrastructure very seriously and will double its effort to ensure this does not happen again."
How does Osko work?
Osko facilitates fast money transfers between participating banks using a BSB and bank account number.
Its website states that the transfer generally happens in under a minute.
Osko is part of the RBA's New Payments Platform, launched in February 2018, to allow recipients of transfers to have access to their money within minutes of it being sent.
It was developed through a partnership between the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), banks and BPAY.
The RBA provides the infrastructure for the system.
Its previous electronic transfer system routinely saw delays of several business days between money leaving the payer's account and being available in the recipient's account.
PayID — which use a mobile number, email address or ABN instead of a BSB and account number — has also been affected by the outage.
Osko customers took to social media to vent their frustrations.
Banks are now scrambling to catch up on the backlog of payments.
ING has told customers it expects payments to be processed and received by the end of the day, but does not have an exact time from Osko.
ANZ said customers would need to resubmit payments once the amount is refunded to their account.
Other banks have advised customers not to retry payments.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for Westpac said while the issue had been resolved, some payments made online and mobile might take longer to process, or in some instances be rejected
"Customers should not attempt to redo a payment if it is still pending," the statement said.
"If customers receive a failed message, they should retry the payment. We appreciate your patience and apologise for the inconvenience."
'There is no fallback'
Consumer Action Law Centre's Gerard Brody said "banks should come to the party" and make sure customers are compensated if they incurred any fees or interest as a result of payments not going through.
"I'd be really disappointed if any banks are charging people late payment fees associated with missed payments because their own systems went down," he told ABC News.
"If you've suffered any loss, you could make a complaint against your bank.
"If the bank isn't responsive, you can complain to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, which is the free and independent dispute resolution body for complaints against banks."
Brad Kelly — who runs an independent consultancy called Payment Services — said this incident highlighted serious risks in the New Payments Platform.
"This is an incredibly significant outage. It's sort of number one on the 'on' the list, so it probably doesn't get much worse than this," he said.
"Although, I do note, it's been it's been mopped up pretty quickly."
The main issue, he argued, was that there was limited redundancy if the NPP collapses for any reason.
"What it's telling us is that there is no fallback," he observed.
"The only alternative is to go back to the old direct debit, direct credit, it's called various different things, direct entry backs, bulk electronic clearing system. It's all the same.
"Australians are familiar with it, it's an overnight settlement. That's the fallback. And, unfortunately, the Reserve Bank has signalled that that's going to be retired, there's also word on the street that BPAY is going to be retired as well."
'You are left dead in the water'
Genevieve Cheetham works for a major retailer and did not receive her pay because of the outage.
She was contacted by her employer this morning, which said it was working with its bank to address the issue.
"I am living pay cheque to pay cheque, and I co-parent with two young children," Ms Cheethem said.
"I am earning money and my frustration is not being able to access it."
Ms Cheethem has been left with no money and little choice but to contact the Salvation Army to get food vouchers.
"Today was one of the days I have my children, it means I am literally waiting for my pay to come through to get fuel, go to the grocery store, get food for lunch," she said.
"We use these systems, and when these systems don't work you are left dead in the water."
