Online banking outages warn us against developing digital dependency

The rise of digital banking, and challenger banks, have without doubt been a positive thing overall. Digital payment acceptance and the growth of ecommerce has allowed new, digital-first services to emerge, increasing consumer choice.

But in embracing digital, the decline of cash payments has prompted many businesses to go cashless - which reduces consumer choice and leaves businesses and customers dependent on technology.

And with the advances in technology, comes the risk of ever-more complicated outages, as systems get increasingly complex and opaque.

In the last few weeks alone, high profile digital outages at Singapore’s DBS Bank, the UK’s TSB have left customers high and dry - following other major outages at HSBC and Halifax. These are all the more damaging for the offline, the vulnerable, those on low incomes, or the unbanked across the world who deserve the right to be able to pay for essential goods and services.

It could be argued that cash is not foolproof, but major ATM outages, such as the one in Toronto last year, make the news because they are rare, whereas outages from challenger banks and digital technologies often fail to make the news because they are so common.

In the rush to innovate, corners can be cut in developing new digital payment technologies and the complexity in fintech - a network of thousands of companies starting, merging and failing all the time - it does make you wonder how reliable the services are, before you start to consider the safety of your cash and security of your data in the digital world.

Whilst I should point out that most outages are related to accessing online banking apps, rather than the ability to make digital payments, the point still stands.

As businesses and customers, are we comfortable with 100% digital dependency?

From a PayComplete perspective, our lineage as a business comes from simplifying cash management across enterprises. Our point of difference as a fintech firm is being able to ‘fill the blanks’ that cash transactions (and movements) can create across the enterprise.

But we are not dependent on the volume of cash transactions; as long as it continues to exist in societies, we will continue to manage it - but we do firmly believe that customers deserve choice, and that it is in businesses’ interests to continue to offer choice.

Such technology outages serve as a reminder as to why retaining the option to make physical cash payments is important for all of us.