Jocelyn Reyes was shocked and surprised early on Wednesday when her Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) checking account in Makati City showed she had become a multibillionaire.
Her money ballooned to over P12.4 billion overnight. Reyes (not her real name) said she and her husband, despite losing P20,000 from his personal account, just laughed at their instant “fortune.”
But as a bank employee herself, she and her husband won’t touch the money, she said.
Many others were not so “fortunate,” like 49-year-old chef Vic Sanchez, who lost P17,000.
Sanchez had planned to withdraw money for his mother’s hospitalization, when one of his BPI accounts—a payroll account—showed two unauthorized withdrawals.
By the time Sanchez checked another BPI account, the online banking service had been suspended.
Reyes and Sanchez were among a “small portion” of BPI’s more than 8 million clients whose account balances showed sudden increases or reductions due to unauthorized transactions, said BPI senior vice president Cathy Santamaria.
Santamaria blamed a “technical glitch,” or “internal data processing error.”
“For those who have received extra money, please don’t touch the account. It will be removed,” Santamaria said. “It’s not bonus money.”
Santamaria rebutted speculations that the 166-year-old bank was a victim of “hacking” or a “scam.”
“Let me emphasize that it has nothing to do with that. We at BPI have the highest security standards and we make sure that all our processes are of the highest level,” she said.
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The Ayala-led bank apologized for the inconvenience caused by the error, vowed full resolution within the day and assured that no client would lose money as a result of the glitch.
All of BPI’s electronic banking channels—including automated teller machines, mobile and web-based platforms—were taken offline while the bank tried to fix the problem.
Santamaria said most of those affected were clients who had peso or foreign currency deposit unit (FCDU) account transactions between April 27 to May 2 this year. There were cases of transactions being double-posted as of June 6, resulting in erroneous balances.
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