Westpac outage sparks fury from customers after Aussies were unable to access their money: ‘The problem with a cashless society’

Westpac customers have been let go after being unable to access their accounts for eight hours.

Some customers reported logging into their app with zero dollars in their accounts, while others discovered their cards had been cleared.

The outage was first reported at around 9pm on Monday, with Westpac confirming that mobile and online banking services had resumed just after 5am on Tuesday.

Many have since expressed outrage at the bank, wondering how a cashless society would work when many businesses now rely solely on mobile payments.

Westpac customers have been let go after being unable to access their money for eight hours

Many Westpac customers vented their frustration

One woman said she couldn't sleep because she feared she had been hacked

'I couldn't sleep last night. I was terrified that I had been hacked. Optus has compensated me for their disruption. What offers me relief from my stress?' one tweeted.

'Not good enough. This shouldn't even be a problem. And you want us to go completely cashless? I do not think so. Bankless seems safer,” said another.

'A text message or an e-mail with the message? I put gas in my car and couldn't pay. Luckily I have cash! I thought I had been hacked and tried to call for help as there was nothing on your website and discovered that you don't answer the phone after 8pm? Better communication is needed Westpac!' one person tweeted.

'How long did the recovery take, more than 8 hours? How does everyone enjoy a sample of that cashless society?' another wrote.

Customers said they logged into their mobile banking apps to find all accounts gone.

Others couldn't log in at all.

Customers were also frustrated that Westpac broke news of the outage on social media rather than on their website, or via text or email.

More than 10,000 people reported that they could not access their account with Down Detector, a platform that registers outages.

Westpac had provided regular updates throughout the evening.

“We are aware that customers are currently experiencing difficulties accessing account information with online and mobile banking,” the bank tweeted when the outage was first reported.

Westpac customers discovered their accounts had disappeared from online banking on Monday evening before the big four banks informed them an hour later that the service was unavailable

“Our teams are working to resolve the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and will continue to share updates here.”

Westpac immediately apologized to customers following the outage.

“We would like to apologize to all our customers who were affected by the issue overnight,” the bank tweeted.

“We recognize that this has taken too long to resolve and we thank customers for their patience.”