KPMG to mop up NAB bank glitch

Forensics firm KPMG has been brought in to examine how millions of National Australia Bank transactions were bungled.

(Credit: National Australia Bank)

NAB customers woke to find their accounts missing scheduled payments and transactions after a technology issue believed to be caused by human error struck the bank.

It took almost a week for the fallout of the error to be rectified, leaving some affected customers without enough money in their account.

NAB spokesperson George Wright confirmed an Australian report that KPMG would review how the error occurred.

"I can confirm that NAB has initiated a comprehensive investigation and review of the incident and all relevant matters associated with it. This independent review will be conducted by KPMG and will be provided directly to the CEO," Wright said.

The bank kept watch on whether forensic investigators have been called in for similar incidents or if KPMG will be addressing a specific incident.

Some 6500 customers have lodged compensation claims to seek refunds for fees and interest as of late last week, The Australian reported last week. It also reported the United Retail Federation would consider a class action against the bank for losses incurred by retailers for glitches in the bank's ATM and EFTPOS systems, and credit cards.

The outage is one of many to come, according to IBRS analyst Jorn Bettin who said that the problem big banks have is building new systems on top of outdated infrastructure.

"Banks are currently struggling with the issue of COBOL programmers going into retirement. The staff in question tend to be the last remaining experts in these languages and related technologies, and typically they are also the last remaining experts regarding specific — sometimes mission-critical — applications," Bettin said.