Green Dot Responds to ‘Outage’ Claims
Despite reports in American Banker and the Los Angeles Times claiming that Walmart MoneyCards issued by Green Dot Bank were being declined at ATMs and points of sale starting Monday, May 16, Green Dot says the problem from a processor conversion was related to accessing balance information online and via IVR. The company, which is set to hold its annual shareholder meeting on Monday during which three contested board seats are up for grabs, told Paybefore in an emailed statement: “While we are still investigating a small number of complaints received Tuesday related to the inability to spend funds, actual customer transactional data indicates that the vast majority of customers were able to use their cards during this period of time, including for ATM cash withdrawals, purchases and the crediting of deposits.”
Green Dot and MasterCard Payment Transaction Services completed the third wave of their processor conversion last weekend, the company said. “While the conversion of accounts to MasterCard PTS went according to plan, post the conversion of accounts, certain systems at MasterCard PTS began to show latency (slowing) which in turn caused certain customer service inquiries to fail when customers attempted to retrieve their balance information from Green Dot’s Websites or automated phone system.” Cardholders could retrieve balance information from the company’s mobile apps, Green Dot added.
The latency issue was rectified by Wednesday night and Green Dot said all systems are operating normally. “We worked with Green Dot in addressing the balance inquiry delays experienced by some cardholders. The issue has been resolved and we continue to monitor the situation closely,” said a MasterCard spokesperson.
Although affected customers may have reached out through other channels, Green Dot noted that less than 100 customers in total over the aggregate three-day period between Monday and Wednesday lodged complaints on the company’s social media channels.
The reports come on the heels of UniRush LLC, the company behind Russell Simmon’s RushCard, agreeing to settle a $20.5 million lawsuit, which includes $1.5 million for legal fees, stemming from an October outage after a processing conversion to MasterCard PTS that left some RushCard holders unable to access the money in their accounts.
Related stories:
- Word from the Streit: Green Dot CEO Talks to Paybefore
- Green Dot’s Strong Q1 Doesn’t Silence Harvest
- Harvest Doubles Down on Call for Change at Green Dot
