In a recent turn of events, DBS encountered a significant disruption in its services, affecting vital aspects such as mobile banking, ATMs, and NETS, during the evening of Saturday, March 8. Reports from an outage tracking site revealed a surge in complaints just after midnight, which continued until past 9 am the following day.
DBS took to social media, notably Facebook, around 2.30 am to address the issue. They assured customers that payments could still be made using DBS or POSB cards and transactions could be carried out through ATMs. A subsequent update mentioned that banking services, along with ATMs and NETS, would remain inaccessible until approximately 5 am.
Further communication from DBS at around 3.50 am urged patience from customers as the bank actively worked towards resolving the issue. By 5.48 am, DBS announced that services – encompassing mobile and online banking, as well as digital wallet PayLah! and DBS mTrading – had been restored to normal operations. In a statement on Facebook, the bank expressed gratitude for customers’ patience and apologized for any inconvenience caused.
However, post-resolution, some customers continued to encounter disruptions. Individuals like Nick Lim expressed frustration regarding ongoing issues on DBS’ social media page. Another user shared a screenshot around 8.20 am, highlighting that the bank’s website was still inaccessible.
Responding to queries from CNA on the duration and cause of the disruption, a spokesperson for DBS confirmed that all services had returned to normal by 5.48 am on March 8, 2025. The spokesperson reassured that investigations were underway to pinpoint the cause of the incident, noting that their teams acted promptly to address customer difficulties in accessing banking services, including ATMs and NETS.
It is worth noting that DBS, Singapore’s largest lender, had previously faced disruptions to its digital banking services in 2023. These incidents culminated in regulatory restrictions imposed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), leading to a temporary halt in new business acquisitions by DBS for six months. The bank was also directed to pause non-essential IT changes for the same duration and refrain from downsizing its branch and ATM networks in Singapore.
In a bid to fortify its technology and system resilience, DBS disclosed in November 2023 that a special budget of S$80 million had been allocated for this purpose. Additionally, the bank’s senior management, including CEO Piyush Gupta, accepted reductions in their variable pay as a gesture of accountability for the service disruptions encountered in 2023.
