TD customer money stuck 'in limbo' due to e-transfer problems

Shaun Rickard would like to know what happened to his $1,700. The home siding contractor received the payment yesterday morning via an Interac e-transfer from a customer.

But when he tried to deposit the money into his TD Canada Trust account, it wouldn't work.

"It's just kind of floating right now [in cyber space]" says Rickard who owns the business, Home Doctor, in Toronto. "It's very frustrating."

They don't seem to be very forthcoming.— TD customer Shaun Rickard

Other TD customers are complaining online — including on Twitter and the website canadianoutages.com — that their e-transfers aren't going through, and that the bank isn't providing them with any explanation.

"Been well over 24hrs and no answers??????" griped one customer on canadianoutages.com, which tracks problems at various companies and services.

Since Monday, about 30 TD customers have complained about the issue on the site. It is not clear when the problem began, or how many people are affected. 

• GO PUBLIC | TD insider says bank doesn't want you to know it's outsourcing work overseas

Rickard said the problem is especially concerning for him because his customers often send him e-transfers.

"Your confidence is a little shattered," he said.

Rickard reached out TD on Facebook, but was unhappy with the response. The bank replied that it's aware of the problem and is working on fixing it. 

"They don't seem to be very forthcoming as to why it's down," said Rickard. "Have you been hacked, is there a security breach?"

Lisa Darragh in Ottawa also wondered what was going on after she received an e-payment for $300 yesterday but couldn't deposit it into her TD account.

"It's in limbo," she says.

When Darragh went online looking for an explanation, she says she instead found numerous complaints by other unhappy TD customers in the same boat.

Recent update

The bank told CBC News on Tuesday that the problem is only impacting a small number of customers.

The trouble stems from "a recent update to provide enhanced features," said spokesperson Meghan Thomas in an email. She provided no further information on the update and did not answer our question about when the problem first started. 

"We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused customers and we are working around the clock to fix it," she said.

• GO PUBLIC | 'We do it because our jobs are at stake': TD bank employees admit to breaking the law for fear of being fired

Thomas added that any pending e-transfers will be completed as soon as the problem is fixed.

In July, customers at all of Canada's big banks experienced problems with e-transfers for about two days. It turned out Interac, which supplies the service, was having technical problems.

Interac said the current TD problem has nothing to do with its operations.