First National Bank will compensate customers who can demonstrate they lost money as a result of the recent downtime on the company’s online banking website.

“Customers who have experienced quantifiable losses as a result of having to use any other FNB payment channels such as branches, ATMs,  call centres, mobile banking, or alternative payments instruments such as cheque or cash payments will be compensated for any additional fees incurred,” the bank says in a statement.

Claims should be made via e-mail to fcommunications@fnb.co.za or through the relevant call centres, it says.

FNB says full access was restored to the bank’s customers — both retail consumers and businesses — on the evening of 7 October. The bank first noticed a problem on its database on Monday morning, following a routine software upgrade at the weekend. Individual customers already had unrestricted access throughout Wednesday, it says. “The system has not only been stabilised but is faster than ever before and is currently processing record volumes.”  — Staff reporter, TechCentral