Tyme Bank Problems Today

TymeBank has become increasingly unreliable as they grew in size. Today there are a number of problems with TymeBank and we're using this document to let the public know about some of them.

No bank is perfect and Tymebank is no different. But I chose Tymebank because I choose not to deal with a branch and I think it's a wise decision to save money on branches. They also have some pretty good tech. But, unfortunately, they have a number of shortcomings too.

I wouldn't write this blog post if I didn't have an issues. Furthermore I'm not trying to publically out my bank because of their deficiencies.

Actually I lovelike TymeBank. I'm saving a ton of money due to their low transaction fees and the peace of mind that my valuable services fees aren't going into servicing expensive prime property rentals in malls gives me lot of peace of mind.

But unfortunately as with any other bank TymeBank has some issues. And to make it a bit more clear for the next client, I'm listing them here.

What is increasingly obvious is that TymeBank is not scaling well. As time goes by the replies to the service email gets slower and slower, to the point of NO REPLY. Also it seems they are having bigger problems with their app than usual.

Before I wrote this post I wrote to TymeBank. I tried both their Twitter line (useless) and their support email (pretty good). On Twitter you don't get replies or massive delays or vague replies. They have a long way to go and to learn about Twitter and customer service. I score them 1/10. But generally on the emails they are pretty good. Around 8/10.

So, without further adieu, there are my problems with TymeBank, as confirmed in writing via email, or via their call centre operators, or with me trying to bank and failing.

TymeBank has Amazon CloudFront issues on their website banking

Poor TymeBank thought they would implement international security and block certain countries from accessing their service via the web. Unfortunately in the process they screwed up what are actual South African IP addresses. So if you're sitting in Cape Town and you have the lovely Vanilla ISP then you will get this:

403 ERROR

The request could not be satisfied.

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The Amazon CloudFront distribution is configured to block access from your country. We can't connect to the server for this app or website at this time. There might be too much traffic or a configuration error. Try again later, or contact the app or website owner.
If you provide content to customers through CloudFront, you can find steps to troubleshoot and help prevent this error by reviewing the CloudFront documentation.

---

Generated by cloudfront (CloudFront)
Request ID: VVOEamCmjev9lDMr2-SqNvhohLD9G-A0HPMH_3GEx0l-bdE4jHwPNw==

That that means is that TymeBank is blocking you. In this case, TymeBank is blocking a South African ISP.

The workaround is install Opera, fire up a VPN in the USA, and guess what? USA may bank, Cape Town not.

TymeBank WWW Online Banking Doesn't work in Europe

Thinking of travelling to Europe? Thinking you can still use your Mac or PC to bank? Forget it (unless you are clued up with VPNs). The same CloudFront crap that happens in Cape Town happens in most of Europe.

TymeBank Service Email Address has Become Unreliable

When I first wrote this article one could actually get a reply from TymeBank's service email address. Now they simply don't respond anymore. Perhaps I am asking more difficult questions, but I suggest you give it a shot and let us know how that goes.

TymeBank has unreliable OTP SMSses

After a few years of using TymeBank I can unequivocally state that TymeBank's SMS OTPs are very unreliable. I'm sure if you told them they'd blame the network, load shedding, or the provider(s), but at the end of the day this means you will be debilitated doing banking when you really need it.

Here's my tip to them. See that resend OTP button? Create a notification that if your customers click it repeatedly that someone actually drops what they're doing and figure out what the heck is wrong. Unreliable SMSses makes for unreliable banking.

You don't earn extra interest on amounts over R 100 000.

This is actually in their FAQ. Their "incredible" savings offering stops after R 100K. Someone please explain this to me?

TymeBank doesn't work with SnapScan

I'm not entirely blaming TymeBank here because Standard Bank, the owner of SnapScan, could also be playing dirty. I'm just finding it a bit absurd that this isn't working. What a pain I tell ya.

Note: Don't believe their website which states it works. The link is here, and it's wrong:

https://www.tymebank.co.za/faq/i-want-to-buy-online-using-my-tymebank-card-which-merchants-work/

Basically it's bullshit and I have it on email. I personally approached them and they confirmed via email that SnapScan doesn't work.

So what happens is you can add your TymeBank card. This works, and does the validation by subtracting and refunding money from your card. But then when you try and actually use the card, you get a bullshit message such as below:

Yep, you heard it here first:

You can't buy biltong with TymeBank.

If you want more evidence SnapScan doesn't work with TymeBank, see here:

https://mybroadband.co.za/forum/threads/anybody-signed-up-with-tymebank.986565/page-229

TymeBank doesn't work at the toll booth

Yep you heard this right. I have a TymeBank VISA debit card, the standard issue. I can use Spotify, Amazon Cloud services, tap and go, Netflix, WakaTime, etc. You name it, this card works on the internet. But hu-huh, go to Du Toit's Kloof tunnel on the N1 and your card does not work. Go figure, they haven't worked out how to make it function there. What gives? Bizarre right? Ps. I hope you have some cash or a backup to open 'em gates.

TymeBank doesn't have stop orders

I have pretty intense banking and pretty poor memory. At the end of the month I have a few things that I can't or won't pay late - my rent - my storage - my gardening services. With my previous bank it was super simple to set up a recurring payment.

Now I ask you, why on earth does TymeBank not allow one to set up stop orders? Huh? What went wrong? Surely this is an fairly trivial IT problem to solve, when you have a couple of million clients already??

TymeBank doesn't work with Garmin Pay

Yep you read it here first. Go through the wizard on your Garmin, type in your card number. On the next page, Garmin asks for your address. On the next page, Garmin reports bank not supported (yet). I guess TymeBank still has to iron out a few relationships.

TymeBank doesn't have a status page

A while ago it was super clear that TymeBank's SMSses were backlogged. Pretty much the whole day I couldn't do anything. I couldn't make payments because SMSses didn't come through, or they took hours. On my browser I had a similar issue, I couldn't even log on because it was a new browser. I contact TymeBank's Twitter to find out if something is wrong.

Note to self: Don't waste your time. It's a marketing page and they eventually stop answering you.

In my opinion a modern bank such as TymeBank should have a status page for when things go wrong. Even if nothing ever goes wrong.

Conclusion

As you can see TymeBank is missing some pretty basic features.

I'll update this article with updates but as I mention, I have already contacted TymeBank, over the last year nogal, and they confirmed in writing that I'm not seeing things. Even with millions of customers you can have debilitated functionality.

Contacting TymeBank

If you want to contact TymeBank, here is a link to their official contact page:

https://www.tymebank.co.za/help-support/

Good luck.