A woman who banks with Malaysia’s largest bank recently discovered that there was a mysterious increase in her account balance, amounting to over RM400 million.
When Hafidzah Abdullah checked her account at the end of last month, she found that she had over RM404 million in credit. This would have been a significant windfall, particularly in a country where the average household income is around US$22,000 (RM102,993) per year. However, there was a catch: she couldn’t access the money.
Hafidzah, who is the director and co-founder of a human-resources firm, turned to LinkedIn to express her mixture of amusement and annoyance at the situation.
She wrote on Nov 29, “Dear Maybank. I appreciate your making my banking experience memorable.” She then explained that account glitches had become a recurring issue for her, “a comedy of errors that nobody finds funny,” and that it required either visits to a Malayan Banking Bhd branch or long waits on the phone to reach customer service.
She continued, “They say money can’t buy happiness, but Maybank knows how to buy frustration.”
Others joined in the conversation. One person wrote, “They treat you like a ball, kick you here and there.” Another said, “Am wondering what’s wrong with banks in Malaysia.”
Amid a flood of complaints, jokes, and congratulatory messages, the bank’s head of group customer experience management, Shaikh Munir Ahmad, offered to help. In a comment on the platform, he stated that he had spoken with Hafidzah and she was now able to access her account.
Representatives from Maybank confirmed on Dec 1 that the issue, which was first reported by Singapore’s The Straits Times, had been resolved.
“It was not a system-wide issue and the customer account was not compromised,” a bank spokesperson explained in an email.
Maybank, based in Kuala Lumpur, is the fourth-largest bank in South-East Asia by assets. – Bloomberg
