Brazil’s Bradesco web, branch services hit by intermittent glitch

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Some Banco Bradesco SA customers struggled to access online and branch services on Wednesday, after Brazil’s third largest listed lender was hit by an intermittent glitch that slowed transaction systems.

A spokeswoman at Osasco, Brazil-based Bradesco (BBDC4.SA) said in a telephone interview that technical staff was working to resume service shortly. Several customers unable to access online and app services complained about delays or full system outages in social media channels.

It was unclear whether the outage took place across Bradesco’s almost 61,000 points of service nationwide, which include 5,068 branches. The bank, which had about 26 million active account holders as of June, operates two main digital platforms.

Banks in Brazil have become increasingly sensitive to brand damage caused by technical glitches as more customers use their mobile phones or personal computers to conduct transactions. A series of technology-related incidents in recent years has also raised awareness among Brazilian customers about online security issues.

Chief Executive Officer Luiz Carlos Trabuco’s efforts to enhance Bradesco’s existing banking tech platforms are a top priority, as traditional lenders begin to lose card and personal consumer loan customers to smaller financial technology firms.

The bank last had a similar intermittent glitch early in the day on July 5, 2013, when digital and branch clients were kept out of transactional systems. Service was restored hours later.

Preferred shares rose 1.6 percent to 31.02 reais in Wednesday afternoon trading in São Paulo, extending gains this year to 19 percent this year.