Answer:
Answer by Andy Zavoina
Your agreement should allow for disruptions and Acts of God. That aside, this has happened in the past and banks have received black eyes over it. You should encourage your customers not to wait until the last minute to complete transactions and provide alternatives for them such as telephone banking whenever possible.
Answer:
Answer by Mary Beth Guard
During the dotcom boom days when so many people were trading stocks frequently online, there were several well-publicized service outages with major online brokerage firms and customers threatened to sue when they couldn't buy or sell when they wanted to.
The fact of the matter is that those customers (just like your online banking customers) have alternative means to complete their transactions. They could call the bank, come into one of its branches, or even conduct a transaction at an ATM. It's important to shape expectations at the outset of the online relationship. Anyone who uses the Internet frequently knows that it is not 100% reliable. Whether it's your Web server experiencing the problem, or a fiber optic line that's been cut (like we experienced last week with our ISP, creating great frustration!), the Internet is quirky and 100% uptime is not a reality. Remind customers on your Web site and in your online banking brochures that this is simply an additional delivery channel, not an exclusive one, and they can always transact business in the traditional ways should it become necessary to do so.
First published on BankersOnline.com 5/7/01
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