Why is Business Internet Banking down so often?

goz83

It seems to be a regular occurrence now for business banking to be down over the weekend. I regularly catch up on work and check my accounts over the weekend and this is stifled, because I cannot access my business account online, which should be available 24/7. Just now, I have tried logging in several times and I get the message "failed to deliver request". I have seen this message too often and I am quite unhappy with it. The online banking system is terrible to begin with, but I when I can't access it, I wonder how can BOI justify charging for this service on a monthly basis??? If this happens again, I will be moving my business elsewhere, because I have also grown unhappy with the extortionate personal banking fees introduced last year.

So, why does BOI charge for a service, which is regularly inaccessible to customers?

Bank of Ireland: Alison

Hi goz83

Thank you for your post.

We are sorry to hear you are unhappy with the Business on Line service we are providing.

We will certainly reiterate your comments to our Business on Line Department.

You can also raise your concerns with this department by calling the Business on Line Helpdesk on 1890 818 265. 

Thank you
Alison

highgiant1985

This is just my opinion. I work with a software company in a different industry and I've no link with the Bank of Ireland other than I have a current account there.

1 - Normally down time happens because of general maintenance and software updates.

2 - At the moment there is a major fundamental change happening that impacts the banking industry (and other industries including mine).

This change is called SEPA - Single European Payments Area. It is a european directive which Ireland has to be compliant with by Feb 2014.

I expect the increased down time recently is more noticable because BOI are updating for the SEPA changes.

From a customer point of view this should be an almost seemless change over though there would be increased down time.
The key thing you'll notice is instead of sort code and account number they are being replaced by BIC and IBAN.

While this should be seemless from a end user point of view it is a major system change which impacts on multiple areas. It is also likely being rolled out in a controlled phase approach.

I would have expected that all banks will have seen increased down time in recent months because of these changes. It may be the case other banks rolled out the changes during more "unsociable" hours either.

BOI Link to further details on SEPA: http://businessbanking.bankofireland.com/payments-and-cards/online-banking/sepa/

goz83

@ highgiant1985:

I am aware of the SEPA changes and agree customers should see little, or no change to their service, but this issue is on-going and I know others have complained about it too. This has been happening since the summer on a regular basis and would happen frequently enough prior to that and this would always happen outside of business hours, so nothing could be done about it and the problem would be gone before any complaint could be made.

northwestramble

I have asked Bank Of Ireland to give some details on their online systems to show how well they are doing. Sadly BOI, seems to be of the view that giving out information like that is not possible on a public forum. Have yet to work out why saying how often the systems are down are up in any way is not possible. Other IT companies do it all the time, boast about up time, and services provided. 
 
The reality is that for banks in the 21 Century, IT is the key factor to the daily running of their business, actually without they have no business. This we have seen in the past and as soon as there is a computer problem, down go aspects of the service and sometimes this leads to a chain reaction. I am of the view that if something is key to the service you give to customers you must provide details about it so a customer can make an informed decision about dealing with such a supplier of a service/product. 
It seems to be backed up by consumer law, from what I saw on the Citizen information website. As I am not a legal expert I cannot say for sure, but BOI legal team are reviewing this at the moment to see if that is the case. Maybe we might get some more info shortly on their level of service. 

goz83

Once again BOL is DOWN AGAIN!!!! This is absolutely a joke! I enter my login details and message "Failed To Deliver Request" pops up. I've had it with this service!!! Either BOI stop charging me for this terrible service, which is so often down, or I take my business to ptsb.

Bank of Ireland: Alison

[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Hi goz83[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Thank you for your post.[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]We can understand your frustrations related to accessing your business account online.[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]If you are still unable to access Business Online, you can contact the Business Online Helpdesk on 1890 818 265. A representative can assist you with access.[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Thanks[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Alison[/font]

 

goz83

Alison, the real problem is that there is no problem within help-desk hours. I can access the service most of the time (which is quite rare, as I don't require access every day/week). When I am unable to access it, maybe 30% of the time, this is when I cannot call customer care, or get a response here. It's just not good enough! I can access it right now, but I can't access it outside of hours a significant amount of the time. There is no point giving me a number that I can only call during business hours. Plenty of business people sort their finances outside of office hours. Having no access for an entire weekend recently caused me a lot of grief, because I could not access my accounts to complete my VAT return and end of year submission to the inland revenue. Why are we being charged for such a flawed service? And why, as mentioned by another poster above, is this information not being made available for the public to see? We are PAYING for this joke of a service!!! I will be moving my custom elsewhere. I am tired of lazy, half hearted answers and stupidly high banking fees.

Bank of Ireland: Alison wrote: »

[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Hi goz83[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Thank you for your post.[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]We can understand your frustrations related to accessing your business account online.[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]If you are still unable to access Business Online, you can contact the Business Online Helpdesk on 1890 818 265. A representative can assist you with access.[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Thanks[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Alison[/font]

 

Bank of Ireland: Alison

[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Hi goz83[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Thank you for your post.[/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Business OnLine hours have recently been extended from 8am to 8pm Monday-Friday.[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]We do try and assist with customers queries as much as possible or direct them if we cannot fulfil their query here. [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Unfortunately, we feel we cannot add further value to your post. As reps, we are not in a position here to make changes to the services provided.[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]However, we are aware of the difficulties you are experiencing and will ensure these are relayed to our Business OnLine Development Team. [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif] [/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Thanks[/font]
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Alison [/font]