In a news release on Wednesday, NCB explained that, following the system upgrade on May 17, 2019, most of its business customers were unable to submit their salary files electronically in the usual manner. As a result, the bank said it accepted the files from customers via different communication channels for processing, which led to significant delays as thousands of files were submitted.
"Some files were submitted multiple times resulting in duplicate payments which are being reversed accordingly. Whilst we have processed all files submitted, some customers are still experiencing difficulties due to rejection of payments for various reasons including in many cases incorrect account numbers in the files submitted," NCB said, adding "We have been working with employers and other banks to process the rejected transactions or to identify alternative ways to pay salaries."
The bank said it has been simultaneously working to simplify the salary upload process for business customers so they can effectively upload their own payrolls to eliminate delays due to manual processing.
"Some have started to upload and we expect remaining business customers should be able to do so within the next few days," the bank said, noting that restoring normalcy to payroll processing and funds transfers remain its "top priority".
"We commit to ensuring that our customers are not penalized as a result of these challenges. All associated late fees and charges will be reimbursed. Customers may bring supporting documents to any branch for processing or email
[email protected]," the bank said, adding that it regrets the challenges the upgrade has presented.
