Just as before the whole country goes into a long holiday break in observance of Lent, the online system of Union Bank of the Philippines was still down two days after the supposed end of migration of Citibank-branded accounts.
UnionBank earlier posted a notice in its Facebook page that its online system will be offline from March 23, 2024 (Saturday) to March 25, 2024 (Monday). The Aboitiz-owned lender is transferring the records of local Citibank clients to its system after acquiring the US firm’s consumer portfolio in 2022.
In its official Facebook page, the bank said on Monday, March 25, that its systems are “now up and running” after completing “the migration of all Citi-branded cards and accounts earlier than scheduled.”
But commenters to the announcement were quick to point out that its online system was not working. Indeed, as of posting time, all of UnionBank’s online channels including its mobile apps are still down.
A number netizens have posted their sentiments about the interruption in their social media accounts, saying they needed to pay or settle something on a payday before Holy Week.
A businessman who keeps his payroll with the bank told Newsbytes.PH that his employees have not been able to get their salaries after failing to log on their accounts.
“People are panicking already. I’m sure a lot need money for the holiday,” he said. “We can’t login in both business portal and my personal portal.”
On Thursday, March 28, the PR agency of UnionBank emailed this statement regarding the status of its online systems:
“UnionBank Online and its business platform, The Portal, are up and running. Some may be experiencing intermittent access to our online banking platforms and some of its features as a result of holiday and seasonal volume surges.
Alternatively, UnionBank ATMs are available 24/7 for self-service transactions. You may also continue using your UnionBank credit & debit cards/Citi-branded credit cards as usual.”
