Several Laurentian Bank customers still did not have access to their accounts Friday morning, six days after the breakdown of the financial institution’s online systems, which ensures that its services are restored but are experiencing slowness.
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In an interview with LCN, the head of the institution’s financial department apologized to the bank’s customers.
“I would like to sincerely convey our apologies to our customers,” says Yvan Deschamps. We are working tirelessly to resolve the situation with them and resolve any inconveniences. »
Mr. Deschamps returned to the reasons which led to these service interruptions.
“What caused the situation last weekend was an update to the bank’s computer system, which unfortunately caused a delay in transactions and resulted in approximately four days of the bank not having its open system for customers,” he explains.
“As of yesterday afternoon, we allowed customers to return to the banking system, and to be able to make their transactions, and throughout the week, they had access to make their VISA transactions and also their debit transactions and ATM withdrawals,” he adds.
However, many customers rushed to the company’s website, leading to slowdowns that made it still difficult Friday morning for some to access online services.
“We understand the anxiety of our customers, who, after a few days without having access to their bank, wanted to have access to it,” explains the head of the financial department. So what happens unfortunately is that the demand is very high, we understand that, and we do everything we can to resolve any slowness issues to allow them to access their bank account. »
- Listen to the Everything you need to know segment in 24 minutes with Alexandre Moranville-Ouellet on QUB radio:
The transactions that were carried out during the outage were able to be processed, we assure.
“The transactions that were recorded over the past few days, despite the system outage, are in the bank’s systems. It’s a sequencing problem, so we had to reprocess one day after another in sequence through the system and dates, to ensure that the transactions were correctly processed in the customers’ bank accounts. »
“We are here to support our customers, we understand their anxiety, financial security is important to them,” he continues. It’s important to them [et] for their family. »
“We wanted to make sure we gave customers access to their bank accounts again, so they could start making transactions again. We understand that it affected their confidence. We will do everything in our power to rebuild that trust. »
As we approach 1er October, this situation is problematic and causes stress to many customers.
“It’s stressful for me and for all the people affected by not having access to our cash,” a customer told TVA Nouvelles. It cuts us off from the responsibilities we manage and it’s truly heartbreaking. »
“We don’t understand what’s happening,” adds another customer. The pension management and social welfare, both deposits were to be made today, but neither one nor the other [n’est accessible]. I wanted to go grocery shopping, there’s not much left to eat at home. »
“It’s very stressful,” adds Jocelyne Tétrault, another customer. I was waiting for the pension office this morning and it didn’t come. I have another deposit on Sunday too. I have direct debits that haven’t been made either and I have more to come. My account balance is not up to date and there is nothing done, it is inconceivable. I’m 71, that doesn’t make any sense. I’m going to change banks. »
In interview at DumontFriday morning, the co-founder of Amplio Stratégies, Philippe Richard Bertrand, believes that the company should have been better prepared to receive a flow of traffic after so many days without service.
“The internet is like a pipe, and there’s a certain amount of pressure you can put in a pipe,” he explains. There is too much water in the pipe, too many people trying to access the bank’s IT services. [Et] what is happening? The pipe explodes. »
The expert believes that the bank should be accountable to the government.
“I think that the National Assembly or Parliament will have to convene a special committee,” he says. We cannot have a Canadian bank that no longer provides access to people’s accounts. It’s dangerous. That [apporte] big questions. You don’t have access to your money, it’s a disaster. »
Mr. Richard Bertrand believes that a senior manager should speak, given the seriousness of the situation.
“It’s catastrophic right now,” he said. They sent a spokesperson to the front, who still does a good job with the means he has, but what we want to hear is a vice-president, we want to see the president or the president of the ‘organization. »
“It’s the number 1 rule of crisis management, to put your most senior manager in front of a camera and explain the situation, even if it means saying that it’s difficult and that we’re working hard. But there, we don’t feel reassured by saying to ourselves that it’s resolved, but that ultimately it’s not resolved,” he adds.
For his part, the Minister of Finance of Quebec, Eric Girard, indicates that it is up to the institution to act.
“The Laurentian Bank is a federally chartered institution, so it is certain that the bank works with its regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, and there it is certain that it is up to the institution [de travailler], which is a private company, and an important stakeholder is its customers, he says. I am convinced that they are doing everything they can to improve the situation and it is really up to them to work. »
Watch the interview with the CFO in the video above.