On Fri, 02 Apr 2010 13:47:32 +1100 Jake Anderson <ya...@vapourforge.com> wrote:
> Rick Welykochy wrote: > > Jake Anderson wrote: > > > >> The bank may well be pretty sure that nothing will go wrong but > >> given the cost/benefit ratio its prudent not to take the chance > >> that there is one line of code somewhere or another in the many > >> tens of millions they have that will freak out when the clock goes > >> backwards. > > > > What about ATMs? Will they be down for the count? > > If not, and the main systems are down, they must queue up > > transactions. The timestamps on those transactions will > > have to be handled correctly when the queue is processed. > > Including transactions during the hour the leaps back. > Just spoke to somebody "in the know" > netbank is shut down, all other services are unaffected (well common > services anyway). > > Her explanation is this. > All other transactions are processed in a batch at night, IF you > withdraw money at an ATM your account balance is immediately debited > but the transaction itself is just recorded. > This is presumably also when all the interests are calculated and so > on. Only on business nights are those transactions actually processed > to create a statement. > Netbank transactions however are processed "instantly". > As such it can cause issues when the time roles back. Yes and no. Netbank and similar systems are built on the commercial bulk clearing system. In the original version, the bulk clearing was done by the bilateral exchange of tapes - the CEMTEX system. These days, they bilaterally exchange files several times a day. In the commercial system, a customer with a large number of employees prepares a file with the details of each employees salary and banking arrangements. The customers bank "sorts" the file according to the destination bank and sends the individual files to the appropriate bank. Netbank and similar systems are built on top of this. Very clever in a way, but the commercial system totally ignores the name of the payee. OK in the commercial context, but easy for consumers to make a mistake. The law is clear on who should refund the money when a mistake is made, but because there is no cheap remedy, the banks have simply buggered customers that make a mistake. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is reviewing the EFT Code of Practice and has said that mistaken payments will be included in the new Code. We'll see. Masochists can read about the legal situation and the bloody mindedness of the banks here: http://www2.austlii.edu.au/~alan/mistaken-epayments.html Cheers, Alan > > It probably also has something to do with the age of netbank, its > very very new as far as bank software goes. > > > Listening to the errors they have with processing and the like, its > enough to make me want to keep my money under the bed. > > > > > The same can be said about bank-to-bank and bank-to-international > > transactions. > > > > It seems like a problem they must already have to deal with. > > Transactions world wide into and out of Australia do not stop > > for an hour at 2:00 AM Easter Sunday, do they? > > > > Anyone working in the banking sector out there? > > > > cheers > > rickw > > > > > > -- > SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ > Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html > -- Alan L Tyree http://www2.austlii.edu.au/~alan Tel: 04 2748 6206 -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
