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ISLAMABAD: Customers of MCB Bank, one of Pakistan’s largest commercial banks, have been left frustrated after widespread disruptions hit the bank’s digital banking platform, MCB Live, along with related online and mobile banking services. Account holders across the country have reported being unable to log in, transfer funds, pay bills, or receive OTPs for several hours, sparking a wave of complaints on social media.
What Happened
On MCB Bank’s official Facebook page, customers have posted appeals asking the bank to restore services, with one user directly calling on the State Bank of Pakistan to look into the matter, while another noted that MCB had announced a system “upgradation” and service disruption spanning two consecutive days. The bank has previously acknowledged disruptions of this kind directly to customers online, with a statement posted on its social media pages in the past thanking customers for their patience while its teams worked “around the clock to optimize app’s performance & resolve customer concerns,” and regretting any inconvenience caused.
The disruption comes amid a broader pattern of complaints about MCB’s digital infrastructure. Reviews on app stores describe recurring problems with the bank’s flagship mobile app. One customer wrote that their MCB Live account had been stuck for over a month with a message stating that activation was “in progress,” despite filing more than twenty complaints through the app, by email, and via the call centre without resolution. Similarly, reviews on Google Play describe the app repeatedly failing to open and showing error messages even after users cleared app data, with some customers saying the issues had persisted for months without visible improvement.
Consumers Left in the Lurch
For many Pakistanis, MCB Live is the primary channel for salary transfers, utility bill payments, fund transfers, and remittance-related transactions, including services tied to the Roshan Digital Account for overseas Pakistanis. With the app and online banking portal reportedly inaccessible, customers said they were unable to complete time-sensitive payments, with some describing missed bill deadlines and failed transactions during the outage window.
Social Media Reaction
The outage triggered a flood of reactions on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, with customers tagging MCB Bank’s official accounts and demanding an official explanation and timeline for restoration. Several users called for the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to step in and hold the bank accountable, arguing that repeated digital outages at a bank of MCB’s size point to deeper infrastructure problems rather than one-off technical glitches. Others pointed out that MCB is far from alone, noting that digital banking outages at various local banks have become a recurring frustration for consumers who increasingly rely on mobile apps rather than physical branches.
Some users also referenced an ongoing SBP initiative gathering customer feedback on digital payment services, saying incidents like this highlight exactly why such oversight is needed. <cite index=”12-1″>MCB’s own website currently carries a notice inviting customers to participate in an SBP survey on the user experience of digital payment services, aimed at gathering insights to improve the sector.</cite>
Bank’s Response
As of this report, MCB Bank has not issued a detailed public statement specifying the cause of the latest disruption or a precise timeline for full restoration of services. The bank’s customer service channels, including its call centre and in-app complaint section, remain the primary avenue through which affected customers have been advised to report issues.
What Customers Can Do
Banking sector analysts note that customers facing prolonged access issues should keep records of failed transactions and complaint reference numbers, as these are typically required for compensation claims or dispute resolution through the bank or the State Bank of Pakistan’s consumer protection channels.
The disruption to MCB’s digital banking system underscores growing consumer frustration with the reliability of digital financial services in Pakistan, even as banks continue to push customers toward app-based banking. With millions of account holders now dependent on uninterrupted digital access for everyday transactions, pressure is mounting on both MCB and the regulator to ensure such outages are addressed swiftly and transparently.
