Q-Cash services restored at 30 banks

Card, ATM, POS, internet banking and NPSB-IBFT services of around 30 banks resumed on Tuesday night after being disrupted since Sunday, October 4, following a sudden system upgrade by Q-Cash, an electronic payment network used by the lenders.

Several banks have since informed customers through Facebook, SMS and websites that the services are fully operational.

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Senior bank officials said Q-Cash gave them little notice, with some receiving SMS only hours before or after the upgrade began. The upgrade began on Sunday night and is scheduled to continue until noon on October 10.

On Tuesday, Bangladesh Bank summoned IT Consultants Limited, the operator of Q-Cash, and directed it to promptly restore card-related services.

Arief Hossain Khan, executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, told The Daily Star that the services were restored Tuesday night and the issue had been resolved.

“We called in Q-Cash’s management, and they told us it was an accident. Their server migration had been scheduled for October 28, but a server fault forced them to begin immediately. If they hadn’t, a major disaster could have occurred. Even so, we have asked them for a written explanation,” he said.

A senior BB official, requesting anonymity, alleged that the disruption stemmed from non-payment of dues to Compass Plus, the system’s original equipment manufacturer, and poorly planned system activities.

Asked whether the incident was linked to a dispute with a foreign company, the BB spokesperson said, “We have no knowledge of this.”

Kazi Saifuddin Munir, managing director and CEO of IT Consultants, did not respond to calls or WhatsApp messages from The Daily Star.

On October 5, Munir said the migration was scheduled for October 28, and the company had informed the banks and BB.

“However, due to unavoidable circumstances, we had no option but to proceed immediately with full migration to the new system,” he said.

He said the company had provided the service to banks for 24 years without incident and was trying to make all services available by Thursday evening.