HUNDREDS of British pensioners could have to wait until Tuesday to receive their pensions after a glitch in the Bank of Cyprus’ (BoC) computer system held up payments.
The glitch occurred during an upgrade to the bank’s payment systems, and affected all money coming from Citibank –which handles some ex UK armed forces personnel pensions – to Cypriot banks via BoC.
“The problem was due to a migration to a new system which caused a delay to funds, and so we need to apologise for that,” said BoC’s OneBank online service manager Demetris Demetriades yesterday.
Demetriades sought to reassure BoC’s and other banks’ customers their money has not been lost, and that it would arrive within two working days.
“There is no problem with respect to the funds. Bank of Cyprus customers will receive their payments on Monday and other banks’ customers on Tuesday.”
This may not reassure those like Maroni residents Anne and Barry Higgs, who bank with Marfin Laiki and receive an RAF pension from Citibank via BoC.
Anne Higgs told the Cyprus Mail yesterday they received no information from either Laiki or Citibank and were told nothing about the BoC delay, leaving them no choice but to dip into their UK savings account.
“I hit a brick wall with Laiki bank – all I had from them was that they could not do anything. We do have funds but, as UK pensioners, we try not to withdraw them,” she said.
It was a similar story for fellow Briton Emilia Johnson, whose pension also comes via Citibank.
Johnson said she knew of five other compatriots who were affected and, when she phoned the department for work and pensions in the UK, was told many more had also called in with the same problem.
“Our money left the UK last Thursday. Our friends said pensions that were due on Monday did arrive, but those that were due on Tuesday did not.”
A BoC press officer said yesterday customers had been informed via a media press release, sent yesterday afternoon, and via the website, although no relevant information was available on the site as of 6pm last night.
Their statement said: “Faithful to its commitment to continuous improvement of technological infrastructures in all countries involved, BoC is upgrading its banking management platform in Cyprus (to) achieve faster service”.
The statement did not mention the delays or which customers would be affected, though it did thank customers for their understanding.
“Any technical problems encountered in this transition have been treated with utmost importance and very soon the system will be fully functioning.”
