TD Bank Says It Has Eradicated Last of Computer Problems

KYW Newsradio Team Coverage
by Michelle Durham, Ian Bush, and Al Novack

TD Bank said on Friday afternoon that its computer operations were back to normal after three trying days during which customers reported being unable to access deposits or account information.

Fred Graziano, executive vice president and head of retail banking at TD Bank, says that when the system first slowed down several days ago, officials asked themselves a number of questions:

"I think the first question was, was any of the data an issue? And that has not been an issue, so we've captured the customer's data appropriately.  The issue has just been the volume through the batch process."

And he admits that the volume has caused major headaches for customers:

"On behalf of the entire organization, we are truly apologetic for the inconvenience, and we recognize the frustration levels."

And he says they are adding more lines to the customer service call center so that if an emergency should arise in the future, more people will be able to get through to get their questions answered.

A spokeswoman for the Cherry Hill, NJ-based company said on Friday morning that the bank was making progress in catching up with a series of computer problems that left depositors unable to access their balances or their funds.  She said that everyone's transactions as of Thursday have been posted and customers could see their balances as of the end of the day Thursday.

Rebecca Acevedo said the bank was making direct deposits a priority and she expected bank customers to have access to those funds sometime on Friday.  By about 2:30pm, she said the bank's records appeared to be back to normal.

She reiterated that TD Bank would reimburse customers for any bounced-check fees they incurred.

Villanova University IT professor Sue Metzger says the bank will be dealing with the aftereffects of this situation for months:

"I think what is interesting about this particular case is that we're really seeing how social media has really highlighted the problems. You have people on Facebook and other social tools declaring their issues." 
    
The problem, which seems to have begun Wednesday, resulted in a delay in what they call "overnight transaction postings" -- when debits you make or direct deposits you receive are reconciled with your account balance.

Customers reported incorrect balances and unavailable funds.  And on Thursday morning the bank's toll-free help line was experiencing technical difficulties, perhaps from the crush of calls.

The problem was especially acute because of the timing, as end-of-the-month paychecks that would normally arrive via direct deposit in the early morning hours of Wednesday still were not posted to many accounts as of Thursday morning.  Some customers complained that funds they needed to make end-of-month mortgage payments were unexpectedly not available.

Some TD Bank customers said they had been having account issues for several days, which coincided with the end of the transition period that saw Commerce Bank merge with TD Banknorth.

Acevedo said TD Bank had to shut down Internet banking for all customers for a time during their computer fiasco. 

As of Thursday morning, as the problems persisted, TD Bank issued the following statement:

"Unfortunately, we experienced an unusual delay in our overnight batch posting again last evening. All postings are up to date as of Wednesday evening but now we are having an issue with last night's batch posting.  We are working nonstop to resolve this issue. We are sorry about the inconvenience and we thank our customers for their patience and understanding.

"Currently customers can see account balances as of Wednesday evening.  We expect to complete our transaction processing and have current account balances later today. We will reverse fees, charges, or interest incurred as a result of this disruption. We are working to solve the problem as soon as we can.  We have empowered our employees to work with customers individually to resolve any outstanding issues that arose as a result of this delay. We  continue to operate on full tilt to get this resolved." 

Dr. Munir Mandviwalla, Temple University's chair of the management information systems department, says the source of the problem may be more about coordination than technical specifications:

"It's not that the people are incompetent.  What often happens is that the IT people who could actually think this through are not given enough time, and they don't have a seat at the table. The financial engineers are the ones who make this decision, and then the problem is thrown into the laps of the IT people."

And Chris Leone, president of Correlative Inc., an information technology consulting firm in Marlton, NJ, says that such problems sometimes snowball:

"What probably complicates things, too, is if people are banging on the system or trying to access the system, it could slow down or even prevent any remedial actions."

TD Bank has customers over much of the Atlantic seaboard.

(File photo)