Absa’s online banking website was available only intermittently on Friday, with some users experiencing slow access and other users unable to access the service at all.

This follows an interruption to Absa services at the end of May which left many customers frustrated and saw the bank extend its clearing times on what was then payday for many people.

Friday’s interruption, coming on the last working day of the month for many, is similarly problematic for Absa clients as it’s a crucial period for making month-end payments.

TechCentral tried repeatedly on Friday to log onto the system, but was met with time-out errors.

Adrian Vermooten, Absa’s deputy managing executive for digital channels, says the problem appears to be “volume related”.

He says the bank experienced “very high volumes” on Friday morning and is aware that the end of the month is a “critical period for customers”.

“We’re trying to get the performance levels and load times back up to satisfactory levels,” he says.

The bank will post hourly updates to its Facebook page and has extended the cut-off time for payment clearance by two hours.