All customers affected by erroneous bank deductions refunded, says Prudential
The company logo of Prudential is seen at its headquarters in Hong Kong.
SINGAPORE — Insurance company Prudential said on Friday evening that (May 25) it has refunded all customers affected by an operational lapse which resulted in unauthorised fund transfers and erroneous premium deductions from their bank accounts.
"Customer polices were not affected in any way," a Prudential spokesperson said in a statement without giving details on the number of policy holders affected, or the scale of the lapse which first came to light on Thursday.
Some Prudential customers also took to social media to complain about the unauthorised fund transfers and erroneous premium deductions from their bank accounts.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that customer accounts of multiple banks were affected, but noted that the incident was caused by an operational lapse rather than a cyber attack.
A Prudential spokesman said on Thursday night that a number of customers had experienced a GIRO deduction in excess of their insurance premium or a failed GIRO deduction that day.
"We have investigated the matter and found that this is due to a technical error. This was not a cyber-attack," said the spokesman.
Prudential and MAS have not given details on what could have triggered the "operational lapse".
Prudential has apologised to its customers, adding that any interest lost will be refunded and any erroneous charges will be reversed as soon as possible.
