Malaysian woman gets over US$86 million mistakenly deposited in her bank account: ‘comedy of errors’

When Hafidzah Abdullah checked her account late last month it showed she was over 404 million ringgit (US$86.3 million) in credit. It would have been a huge windfall, especially in a country where the average household takes home around US$22,000 per year, but there was a catch: She couldn’t access the money.

Hafidzah, the director and co-founder of a human resources firm, turned to LinkedIn to vent her mix of amusement and annoyance.

“Dear Maybank,” she wrote on November 29. “I appreciate your making my banking experience memorable.” She went on to explain that account glitches had become a recurring issue for her, “a comedy of errors that nobody finds funny” and which required either visits to a branch of Malayan Banking or long waits on the phone to reach customer service.

“They say money can’t buy happiness,” she wrote, “but Maybank knows how to buy frustration.”

Malaysia freezes bank accounts of pro-Palestinian NGO in corruption probe

Other people chimed in. “They treat you like a ball, kick you here and there,” wrote one. “Am wondering what’s wrong with banks in Malaysia,” wrote another.

Amid an outpouring of gripes, jokes and congratulatory well-wishes, the bank’s head of group customer experience management, Shaikh Munir Ahmad, offered to help. In a comment on the media platform he said he had spoken with Hafidzah and she now could access her account.

Maybank said on Friday that the matter, which was first reported by the New Straits Times, had been resolved.

“It was not a system-wide issue and the customer account was not compromised,” a spokesperson at the lender said in an email.

Kuala Lumpur-based Maybank is Southeast Asia’s fourth-biggest bank by assets.