System crash causes banking troubles for Chunghwa Post customers

Taipei, March 13 (CNA) A system crash on Thursday resulted in banking troubles for account holders of Chunghwa Post, a problem which the state-owned postal company said it will resolve as soon as possible so as to guarantee users' rights.

Chunghwa Post reported that at 11:34 a.m. Thursday, a stability issue in the company's network caused problems at its automated teller machines around Taiwan.

Aside from the network issue, the company added that its server room also experienced hardware problems on Thursday.

The operations of onsite banking were also affected by the system glitch, the company said.

The crash either kept the ATM cards of the company's banking clients inside machines or deducted sums customers intended to withdraw without releasing any notes.

The system-wide glitch was rectified by 2:15 p.m., according to the company.

Chunghwa Post's deputy general manager Chen Tung-liang (陳棟樑) spoke to the local press on Thursday, explaining that the issue was caused by a problem found in the network server and the backup system's failure to respond properly to the issue.

Chen said the company will still have to look into the cause of the glitch, adding that whether or not the problems in the server room were the main reason for the system-wide crash would still need to be looked into.

During the system crash, 252 accounts had their cross-bank withdrawals rejected, according to Chunghwa Post.

Additionally, over 1,000 transactions from Chunghwa Post account holders were affected.

The company said all transactions where the amount was deducted on an ATM but no cash was provided will have the reduced amount replenished.

Efforts to rectify the situation should be completed as late as the end of the work day tomorrow, the company said.

Chen went on to assure the general public that the company will find out the reason behind the glitch and will also determine whether or not other backup mechanisms should be out in place.

Chen also apologized on the company's behalf to all of their clients for any inconvenience caused.