BPI says glitch now contained, only ‘small’ percentage of accounts affected

Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) on Wednesday assured the public that only a "small" percentage of accounts was affected by the recent glitch, and the issue has now been contained.

"We know the root cause, we know how to solve the problem. We know exactly who were affected and who were not," Catherine Santamaria, BPI Senior Vice President, told reporters at a briefing in Makati City, noting that only a "small" percentage of accounts was affected.

Santamaria was referring to an internal data processing error, which caused additional debits and credits from BPI clients' accounts earlier in the day.

According to Santamaria, accounts which transacted with the bank between April 27 to May 2 were double-posted as of June 6.

While deposits made during the said dates were doubled, withdrawals were likewise processed twice, causing some accounts to register negative balances.

"These clients will see in their accounts more money than what they have.
We are immediately correcting it," Santamaria said.

NOW: BPI addresses technical glitch, says "someone must have touched something" this early morning || @gmanews pic.twitter.com/cpm5f05GX8

— Jon Viktor Cabuenas (@jvdcabuenas) June 7, 2017

Meanwhile, for accounts which noted negative balances, Santamaria said these will only be paper losses.

"Hindi po nawala ang pera ninyo ... wala po ang mawawalan ng pera. Paper lang po 'yun, wala pong nakakuha ng perang 'yun," she said.

Asked to elaborate on the glitch, Santamaria said it was due to an internal error during the batch processing on the early hours of Wednesday.

"Everyday we actually do batch processing. Somewhere in that process this morning or midnight, there was an error. Someone must have touched something," she said.

Santamaria noted, however, that the bank is now working to correct the issue within the day.

"We want you to be a little patient. We will solve it within the day," she said. — RSJ, GMA News