Delayed banking notifications on Vodacom

[Ockie]

Hello guys. I know there was a thread about this a while back. I suck at doing searches on mybb so thought I will just create a new one. A friend of mine phoned me now asking if I could check if there is something wrong on his line (I think he is under the impression that I have access to Vodacom's core matrix and amend the source code of it or something) cause he is getting his banking notifications hours and sometimes days late.

I sent him a test SMS from my phone (Cell C) and it got delivered instantly. I have logged a call for him in the meantime (dont want him to think I am not doing anything about it)...but in the meantime I thought I would get some feedback here again. Could it be that the banks links are perhaps overloaded (specially seeing that its shopping season)?

[Slootvreter]

I usually get notifications within a minute, the only ones that come through late, is my salary deposit I'm thinking this is more the banks' problem than the service provider.

[ginggs]

Is your friend in an area with poor coverage, maybe on holiday?

Before switching to Cell-C I had experience with poor Vodacom signal where I work. If the SMS is unable to be delivered instantly it seems to go into a retry queue where it might only be delivered hours after you move into an area with good signal.

In order to get one time passwords I would put my phone in my bosses window for a few minutes in order to register on the network, then run to my desk, log into internet banking, run back to the phone wait for the OTP and then run back to my desk and enter it before the session expired.

Who does your friend bank with?

[Ockie]

Is your friend in an area with poor coverage, maybe on holiday?

Before switching to Cell-C I had experience with poor Vodacom signal where I work. If the SMS is unable to be delivered instantly it seems to go into a retry queue where it might only be delivered hours after you move into an area with good signal.

In order to get one time passwords I would put my phone in my bosses window for a few minutes in order to register on the network, then run to my desk, log into internet banking, run back to the phone wait for the OTP and then run back to my desk and enter it before the session expired.

Who does your friend bank with?

Well, he is on holiday at the moment in Knysna I think...and did not complain about bad signal...and my test sms got delivered instantly. I have a feeling it is just the bank notifications that is giving him a problem. Vodacom have already called him back after I logged a call for him about 20 minutes ago and told him they are referring this to their VAS department for further investigation and will let him know what they find out.

He banks with FNB and Standard Bank.

[LeonP]

Well, he is on holiday at the moment in Knysna I think...and did not complain about bad signal...and my test sms got delivered instantly. I have a feeling it is just the bank notifications that is giving him a problem. Vodacom have already called him back after I logged a call for him about 20 minutes ago and told him they are referring this to their VAS department for further investigation and will let him know what they find out.

He banks with FNB and Standard Bank.

Same problem, the messages don'tcome through, then 5 or 6 come through at the same time

[isie]

Well, he is on holiday at the moment in Knysna I think...and did not complain about bad signal...and my test sms got delivered instantly. I have a feeling it is just the bank notifications that is giving him a problem. Vodacom have already called him back after I logged a call for him about 20 minutes ago and told him they are referring this to their VAS department for further investigation and will let him know what they find out.

He banks with FNB and Standard Bank.

Maybe he's notification times changed at the bank, happened to my wife all of a sudden it changed from instant to only certain times of the day?

[Bern]

I had a slight slowdown with FNB and VC yesterday in Somerset West - took 30 seconds instead of the usual 1 second.

I do regularly have a problem with ABSA - they often take a few minutes to get the notifications through (2-3 minutes, sometimes more) and I have had a few instances where I received the notifications an hour later. Note I was able to receive other messages and calls (in Somerset West at the time) and had pretty good VC signal.

Just thought I'd add my experience to shed some more light.

[Ockie]

I had a slight slowdown with FNB and VC yesterday in Somerset West - took 30 seconds instead of the usual 1 second.

I do regularly have a problem with ABSA - they often take a few minutes to get the notifications through (2-3 minutes, sometimes more) and I have had a few instances where I received the notifications an hour later. Note I was able to receive other messages and calls (in Somerset West at the time) and had pretty good VC signal.

Just thought I'd add my experience to shed some more light.

Thank you....appreciate it. I am inclined to think that it might be a issue with the banks...but I cant be sure.

[xrapidx]

I have this issue with ABSA constantly, no problem with FNB.

ABSA blame Vodacom - Vodacom blame ABSA... I tend to think the problem is with ABSA, as they are the only ones where I have a delay.

[Peder]

I find absa Notifications are sometimes slow too and i believe it is Absa's fault and not Vodacom. Because especially on busy days it takes longer for the sms to come through.

[Ockie]

I think Capitec has the right idea. I love my little tag. When I want to log in i press the button and enter the displayd code and viola! Same goes for when I want to do anything within my account like pay someone etc. I also like that it is offline.

The SMS notification sms for when you swipe your card etc for me is also highly overrated. It used to irritate the living crap out of me when I was still with FNB. I see that Capitec has now also made this available...but they charge you per SMS...and I think it is like R3.00 a SMS. YIKES.

Eish....this kinda came out to be a advert for Capitec....sorry about that. :-)

EDIT: Sorry...checked and it is R0.40 per SMS. Not so bad.

[Bern]

I think Capitec has the right idea. I love my little tag.

FNB used to do the tag- I think they might still offer it, but I prefer the SMS notification, especially the secondary OTP option that FNB has in case your phone gets stolen/damaged/network down - you can get the OTP sent to an email address. Very awesome, especially if you are overseas and can't quickly get a new sim.

Sheesh, was thinking of moving the ABSA account to Capitec, but if they are going to charge a lot for sms notifications I will weight that up against FNB's unlimited option and the epic FNB Paypal integration.

[Ockie]

FNB used to do the tag- I think they might still offer it, but I prefer the SMS notification, especially the secondary OTP option that FNB has in case your phone gets stolen/damaged/network down - you can get the OTP sent to an email address. Very awesome, especially if you are overseas and can't quickly get a new sim.

Sheesh, was thinking of moving the ABSA account to Capitec, but if they are going to charge a lot for sms notifications I will weight that up against FNB's unlimited option and the epic FNB Paypal integration.

I made a error...it is R0.40 per sms....and considering that you only pay R4.00 for your monthly admin fee it really is nothing. :-)

[now05ster]

I have this issue with ABSA constantly, no problem with FNB.

ABSA blame Vodacom - Vodacom blame ABSA... I tend to think the problem is with ABSA, as they are the only ones where I have a delay.

SAME HERE! Same parties too...

[Iam3G]

I'm with MTN and Bank with Absa. My Notifications are always instant. Never had any type of delay.

I also have a Credit Card with FNB and my primary OTP is my email, but that takes 5 to 10 minutes before I get it. So what I do is as soon as I log in I request to have the OTP sent to my Secondary Option and I get it instantly.