Customers of the National Australia Bank's Internet site have been caught in peak hour traffic jams again this morning, with many customers unable to access the bank's online service.
"It's a problem we're aware of," the National's Julie McBeth said of this morning's delays.
The National's Internet banking platform, which utilises digital certification, has seen the online service dogged by delays for a few months now.
"There are some inherent limitations with the current system," Blair Vernon, head of Internet and e-solutions at the National, told ZDNet.
For example, once a user has downloaded their digital certificate onto a particular machine, they are restricted to using that PC unless they import the digital certificate to another machine via floppy disc.
"The challenge we have with the way our platform is configured at the moment tends to be that there's greater habitual usage," Vernon said.
Monday morning is a classic example of the site's peak load problem, when the sheer capacity of customers trying to access means many aren't able to successfully log on to the service.
"Because we haven't got the HTML version out there yet, people don't have greater flexibility to log in later at home," Vernon said.
The National is in the process of developing a new browser-based version of the online banking facility, which will increase user flexibility and see a flattening of peak load problems, according to Vernon.
"Our goal is to achieve a higher level of usability and flexibility," he said.
The bank says the onset of Internet banking lead to customers expressing concern about security issues and this was the driving force behind the decision to adopt digital certification.
"The flip side of security is the more security you have the less flexible you are," Vernon said. "People's anxiety about security has now lessened and desire for flexibility has increased.
The National, with over 400,000 registered Internet banking customers, anticipates the new Net banking system will be installed the second half of the year.
