Bendigo Bank and ANZ bank hit by outages on Christmas Eve

Bendigo Bank has restored its banking services after an outage caused customers to lose access to their phone and e-banking accounts just one day before Christmas.

The bank confirmed the phone app and e-banking were unavailable just after 9.30am on Tuesday.

“Our teams are working to restore service,” a statement said.

“Cards, ATMs, branch services and incoming payments remain unaffected.

“We appreciate your patience while we work to restore service.”

Reports on Down Detector peaked just before 10.30am with more than 1050 people recording they could not access the vital banking services.

Bendigo Bank confirmed the app and e-banking had been restored just after 12.30pm, three hours after the outage was reported.

“We apologise for any inconvenience and thank our customers for their patience,” a statement said.

However, one business owner said they were still unable to access their e-banking account and were being prompted to create a new account instead.

“I am so over your f***ing s*** app. I have a business to run,” they wrote.

Customers took to social media to vent their frustration with the timing of the outage.

“This is an absolute disgrace to have happen and take this long on Christmas Eve,” one person wrote.

“I am literally going to cry, this has ruined our Christmas Eve tradition,” another said.

“Oi Bendigo maybe you should get your s*** together on CHRISTMAS EVE, what a joke,” a third added.

Customers who were getting last minute presents for their families or stocking up on food for Christmas Day slammed the outage as “disgraceful”.

Others called for the bank to reimburse them for harm done by the three-hour long outage.

“By your own words, you are a community bank. You just cost a lot of community their Christmas. Compensate,” an X user wrote.

The outage was used by some as an example of why cash should continue to be used in an increasingly digital world.

“Was always going to happen. Exhibit A why cash is still important,” one commenter said.

“This is why we should never go cashless. Always keep some $s on hand,” another wrote.

The comments come after the government unveiled a proposal to ensure businesses accept cash and digital payments.

Big four bank ANZ has also reported issues with its internet banking services which appear to have been resolved.