Major bank offline with customers left dry at the register

ANZ confirmed that its online service and app were down on May 21.

The bank wrote on social media that it is "investigating issues affecting some customers accessing the ANZ app and internet banking".

"We're working to resolve this as soon as possible and apologise for the inconvenience."

The bank noted that the ANZ Plus app, phone banking, ATMs and EFTPOS facilities continue to be available during this time.

Services were restored at about 7pm on May 21, with the bank saying they were "continuing to monitor the performance closely".

Customers vented their annoyance at the bank during the outage.

One person wrote on Facebook: "How does one pay for fuel when they just filled up? Leave their car there?"

"If the banks are driving everyone towards being 'cashless' 100% uptime should be the norm for the banks - failing which a hefty fine for every 15 minutes they're down should be levied," a second wrote.

One woman wrote her son is "stuck at the doctor and they won't let him leave until he pays and his app isn't working".

Another wrote it happens "constantly" to the ANZ app. "Customers should be compensated," the person wrote.