RTR3DPHB
IN PHOTO: A man uses a Commonwealth Bank ATM located outside a branch in Sydney February 13, 2013. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the country's biggest mortgage lender, reported a record half-year profit and said it expected domestic business and consumer confidence to improve in line with a more stable global outlook. Cash profit rose 6 percent to A$3.78 billion ($3.90 billion), in line with analysts' expectations, buoyed by its retail bank business and improvements in global markets over the six months to Dec. 31 that boosted wealth management earnings. REUTERS/David Gray

Thousands of Australian travellers worldwide have been stranded with no cash on foreign lands when their CommBank travel money card started to malfunction all of a sudden. The complaints started pouring in yesterday when they realised that they were constantly denied access to the funds they had just loaded their accounts with.

The angry customers took to social networking sites to express their frustration, saying they were denied access to their funds and their ATM cards were declined. Vivienne Kelly, a customer of the bank, could not withdraw cash from the ATM, while she was in the UK. She said that the bank’s online app showed that she had no money left in her account even though she had loaded it with Euros, British pounds and Australian dollars.

Kelly told news.com.au that she was also charged for the transactions that were declined. Other distressed customers took out their frustrations on Twitter and Facebook.

Ashley Prigent, another customer, posted on the bank's Facebook page that she had to sleep without food since and might have to miss her flight if this continues for another 24 hours. “My card and account is still not functioning and if this remains after the next 24 hours I will have to miss my flight and book a new one ($1400),” she wrote. “I am going to sleep in Antigua, Guatemala tonight having not eaten since breakfast and having no idea when I will have access to my funds again.”

This is not the first time CommBank has let its customers down. In June, another technical glitch caused customers and businesses a great deal of suffering after its Eftpos terminals and online banking went off for several hours.

A spokesperson for the CommBank confirmed that by 6am AEST, the issue surrounding its Travel Money card has been resolved. The rep, however, could not explain why such an error that affected so many customers scattered worldwide occurred, only saying that the problem was not related to the technical issue that took place the last time.

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.

RELATED STORIES