MANILA, Philippines – As some customers reported delays in fund transfers, banks clarified that this was caused by a “system upgrade” affecting a few InstaPay transactions.

Rappler has monitored multiple complaints of delays in fund transfers being reflected on bank account balances. 

One bank customer reported transferring money from UnionBank to Security Bank using InstaPay, only for the amount to not reflect in their account.

After spending hours calling the Security Bank customer service hotline, staff told the customer that they were “swamped” with similar complaints of InstaPay transactions not being credited. According to Security Bank, the amount was already posted but not yet credited to the account, which could take up to three days.

Bank transfers made using InstaPay charge an additional fee for money to be sent instantly and received in real-time.

Asked about the incident, Security Bank explained that the delay is related to a system upgrade for InstaPay.

“We’ve recently integrated and modernized our payment systems from InstaPay 1.0 to InstaPay 2.0, a key enabler to provide our customers the next evolution in experience, service, and evolving payment features in line with our BetterBanking commitment,” a representative from Security Bank told Rappler on Thursday, November 30.

“As such, we have currently observed that there is a small number of InstaPay transfers that may reflect delays in posting, the cause of which has been identified and addressed.” 

For its part, UnionBank said that a “system upgrade” affected InstaPay transactions during the period.

“The reversals and corrections had to go through the process of validation with our partners from BancNet to ensure the accurate reflection of transactions for reversals,” a UnionBank representative told Rappler on Thursday.

Customers with concerns regarding InstaPay transactions are requested to first report their concern to the banks involved. If the concern remains unresolved, they may escalate it to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) through the BSP’s Online Buddy in any of the following channels:

• BSP webchat
• BSP Facebook page
• SMS – 21582277 (for Globe subscribers only)

– Rappler.com

LIST: Banks with waived PESONet and InstaPay fund transfer fees