A wave of unauthorized transactions has hit a major Philippine bank, triggering fears of hacking, although company officials yesterday said it was an internal computer error.
Customers of Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) woke up yesterday unable to access their accounts online, with many shocked to see unauthorized withdrawals and deposits.
BPI said in a statement that the problem was caused by an “internal data processing error” that had been identified.
Efforts to fix the problem were “progressing well” and the glitch was expected to be resolved within the day, the bank said in a new statement.
Online transactions remained suspended, but bank branches were open, although transactions took much longer.
“We wish to assure all clients that the integrity of their transactions and account balances will be maintained,” it said.
Nestor Espenilla, the incoming governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, said the central bank had accepted “for now” BPI’s explanation that no hacking was involved, but it would still conduct its own probe.
“We have no reason to believe otherwise at this point of time, but as I said this is standard operating procedure, we always verify every incident that we are aware of,” Espenilla said in a radio interview. “For now I think it’s important that BPI resolves it as quickly as possible. We take their assurance that this is not a hack and no money will be lost.”
BPI said the error had led to some transactions between April 27 and Friday last week to be “double posted” starting on Tuesday.
Customers vented their frustrations through social media.
“I had 3 unauthorize atm withdrawals! What the heck! I don’t have any money left on my Personal acct!!” a customer named Belle tweeted.
“They didn’t only take my savings, I am now in debt,” read a Tagalog-language post by iamEm-em on a BPI Twitter page.
A user called wild flower wrote: “I lost my money... I only have 15 [Philippine] pesos [US$0.3] left on my pocket.”
“How can I go home? Fix it please,” the post said.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
RSS