Technical problems

Customers worried: bank accounts suddenly “emptied”

Bank Austria was carrying out maintenance work and some customers' online accounts were suddenly zero.

(Bild: fischka.com für Bank Austria)

Technical problems at Bank Austria: Due to maintenance work over the weekend, customers were inexplicably debited a lot of money. Some online accounts were set to zero on Monday. The bank assures: "This will be rectified as quickly as possible." The bank rules out a hacker attack.

On Sunday evening, a pensioner from Vienna's 4th district had transferred 5000 euros from his savings account to his current account via online banking. Shortly afterwards, however, a total of six times 5000 euros were gone from his savings account. "Where the 25,000 euros went doesn't appear anywhere. And no one on the hotline can tell me either," says the victim.

"Ask for an apology"
On Monday, his accounts were then set to zero. Not an isolated case. A spokesperson for Bank Austria explained in response to an inquiry from "Krone": "We very much regret that in some cases double or multiple bookings were made for withdrawals or transfers due to a necessary changeover that took place in the background. The bank will of course ensure that the bookings are corrected as quickly as possible in line with the value date. We apologize for any inconvenience caused." 

Hacker attack ruled out
The problems are said to have mainly occurred with internal transfers, i.e. from one account to another at Bank Austria. The bank has ruled out a hacker attack. According to the bank's spokesperson, they are working flat out to rectify the situation. He cannot say how long it will take until all customers have their correct account balances again. 

The bank assures that no customer should suffer any damage.