Hours-long UOB mobile app disruption fixed; breach ruled out, probe under way

THE recent hours-long disruption to UOB's TMRW mobile app was not the result of a cyberattack or breach, the bank told The Business Times on Sunday (Feb 6).

The update came after some users were unable to log in or make funds transfers, in a disruption that began around 3 pm last Friday.

Full mobile banking service resumed "in the early hours of Saturday", while Internet banking and ATM services remained available, said Aaron Chiew, head of the UOB TMRW digital group in Singapore.

He did not disclose how many customers were affected. UOB, which operates regionally, said in results for the third quarter to Sep 30, 2021 that it had about 3.5 million users registered on UOB TMRW or personal Internet banking.

Chiew said in a statement to BT that the bank is reviewing the root cause of the service disruption.

"We want to reassure our customers that our banking system remains secure and the disruption is not the result of a cyberattack or any breach," he added. He also noted that the bank informed the regulator and kept customers updated during the disruption.

UOB TMRW was launched in Singapore in October 2021 and replaced the older UOB Mighty app.

UOB first announced the disruption in a Facebook post around 6 pm last Friday. A final update at 8.21 am the next day said that all services on the app were restored, and added: "We thank our customers for their patience as we worked to fix the issue and are deeply sorry for the inconvenience caused."

A spokesperson for the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which regulates the financial services industry here, told BT that the regulator “is following up with the bank on the root cause of the incident”.

The MAS was informed by UOB on Feb 4 that customers had encountered service issues on its mobile application, but could still access accounts through its website, the spokesperson confirmed.

Ravi Menon, managing director of the MAS, recently pledged to "ensure that digital banking remains secure, efficient, and trusted".

That came as digital banking services in Singapore fell under heavy scrutiny in recent months, with the sector facing customer service challenges such as a 2-day outage that hit DBS last November.

DBS was also involved in a payments processing glitch in June 2021 that caused some customers' credit and debit cards to be charged twice for the same transaction, while UOB customers had difficulties logging into Internet and mobile banking services for several hours on a separate occasion in July 2021.

Meanwhile, 790 OCBC customers lost some S$13.7 million to scammers impersonating the bank over the year-end festive period. OCBC later acknowledged its customer service and response "fell short of our customers' expectations".