Clarien Bank’s switch to a new electronic banking system this month, which proved disorderly for many customers, has been followed with the registration of more than 4,000 retail and corporate e-banking users since November 12.

The company added that the new digital banking channels had completed more than 10,000 transactions.

A spokesman added: “As with any project of this magnitude, there are updates being implemented daily to improve back-end operational processes and front-end user experience interfaces.”

The updates came after a source familiar with the systems switch claimed it had been done with insufficient testing before going live.

They said bank staff were overwhelmed when the features of the new system shut out clients, from seniors seeking to access pensions to businesses unable to process payments — with the bank swamped by hundreds of calls and e-mails a day.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, maintained there had been a view of “get it out and fix it later”.

They added: “In certain environments, that’s fine, but in banking it’s not. I expect it to settle down — they have people working around the clock.

“I understand that bugs happen in a system of this complexity and this size. My issue was that we had several critical functions that affect the data lives of thousands of people.”

They said some functions appeared to have received “the bare minimum of testing”.

The source said the migration to the new system had succeeded, in that the system itself was running.

However, they said that functions such as the payment processes used by corporate clients did not operate as smoothly.

Clarien responded to complaints on November 15, saying that it had carried out a “rigorous testing of the systems and the client interfaces” ahead of the launch.

Last night, a spokesman said: “We have created a dedicated internal team to work on ensuring payments are processed, reconciled and investigated in a timely manner

“We have standard operating procedures in place with other local banks to ensure that payments are processed in accordance with file standards.”

He added: “All client feedback is documented, triaged and used both for real-time improvements as well as strategic guidance for future client-experience enhancements.”

A small-business owner insisted that the bank had played down the extent of the problem.

They told The Royal Gazette on November 20: “From our experience, it’s way worse than Clarien are admitting.

“It’s eight-plus days now, and companies I am involved in who bank with Clarien still have no online access.

“Worse is that it’s impossible to get hold of anyone at the bank to figure out what the problem is.”

The same business owner, who also requested not to be identified, said this week that of the three companies they were involved with, two had regained online access as of Friday, but a third “still has an issue”.

He added: “I wasted the better part of two hours at their offices today trying to sort it out.”

The business owner said that with the end of the month looming, they were having to “use personal credit cards to keep creditors at bay”.

They said the time diverted from running their business meant they were also losing income.

The bank spokesman said the transition had bolstered the bank’s security for its clients.

He added: “With ongoing cybersecurity threats and fraud, the changes that we have introduced though our online and mobile channels are ultimately designed to provide our clients with advanced authentication protocols and security.

“We are pleased that most clients have been able to self re-enrol and are working closely with those clients that may have experienced challenges in doing so.”

He said the bank had gone into the launch aware that “any project of this complexity and magnitude of change would cause some client-experience issues and potential friction”.

“We are working through those on a client-by-client basis and attempting to resolve them in a timely and convenient manner.

“Clarien is fully committed to providing our clients with the support they need. Our teams at Point House, 25 Reid Street and our Client Service Centre are working tirelessly to help our clients with the transition process.”