Recipients of the ASG Employees Retirement Fund who were supposed to receive their monthly benefit payments via direct deposit didn’t get their money yesterday and were told by two Retirement officials that this is due to a “bank error” by Bank of Hawaii, which handles the processing and distribution of payments to financial institutions.

Responding to Samoa News inquiries, local BoH manager EJ Ozu said, “We discovered an internal technical error [yesterday] that created the delay in payments for some recipients. We apologize for this error and the inconvenience it may have caused.”

He says yesterday afternoon that the “situation has been corrected and the funds are scheduled to be credited” last night.

Around 8a.m. yesterday Samoa News received the first telephone complaint about no retirement benefit check that was due yesterday and then followed by many more complaints, with some of them saying they are in front of ANZ Amerika Samoa Bank in Tafuna and there is no money for them.

Based on the initial information received by Samoa News the recipients appeared to believe that there was no money in the bank account for the Retirement Fund and that is the reason “we can’t get our money.”

Just after 9a.m., the complainers, who contacted Samoa News around 8a.m., said that several of them were at the Retirement Office at the Centennial Building in Utulei while others had headed up to the Governor’s Office to lodge their complaints in person and to find out what’s happened with their monthly retirement checks.

As Samoa News arrived at the Centennial Building around 9:20am, about 10 people were on the first and second floors while four were in the Retirement Office on the third floor. A woman, who claimed to be a retiree looking for what happened to her benefit check, told Samoa News, “You just missed a lot of people” wanting to find out about their checks and this is just bad “to happen right after the election.”

At the reception area of the Retirement Office, the receptionist said the Executive Director, Talia Fa’afetai Iaulualo was off island while deputy director Caroline Wendt was on the phone. (Samoa News later learned that she was talking with BoH.)

At the same time, a male senior employee of the Retirement Fund was on the phone doing his best to calmly explain to callers, as to the reasons for the problem with the benefit checks. Not long thereafter, the official briefed about five people in the reception area, including Samoa News, saying, “It’s a bank error” — referring to BoH and “It’s not our side” and the direct deposit is expected to “be in your bank account” today.

He also explained that the “bank error” affects only customers with direct deposit, but not those who receive paper checks.

One woman in the reception area said that there is suspicion that there is no money in the Retirement Fund bank account (and this is the same suspicion callers raised with Samoa News), but the official emphasized, “There is money” and the problem is with the bank handling the processing of payments for direct deposits.

As four people left the reception area, another four showed up — all women — and at this time Wendt emerged from her office saying “I apologize” and “I’ve been on the phone with the bank (BoH)” and “there was an error on their part”. Wendt says that if BoH posts the payments tonight, “everybody will get everything” today in their bank accounts.

One woman seem unconvinced, asking “are you sure” while another asked what happens if there is nothing in her bank account by today. Wendt calmly explained that she was informed by BoH that everything was to be posted tonight and should be available this morning.

“Yes there is money” in the Retirement Fund account and “it was just a bank error,” said Wendt who pointed out that this affects only direct deposit customers.

Another woman asked if paper-checks can be issued for them because of the current problem and Wendt responded that it can’t be done because “we have already sent the file to the bank.”

The woman went on to point out that “it’s not fair for us with direct deposit... seeing people cashing their checks. For us, we have a lot of things already scheduled [for use of the money].”

Responding to other questions from the women, Wendt says BoH only learned of the error yesterday morning and the bank is doing everything it can to get the direct deposit funds posted to customers’ bank accounts by this morning. She again assured the women that “there is money” in the Retirement Fund account and again apologized for the inconvenience.

Wendt also said the Governor’s Office has been contacted about the matter.

On the way down in the elevator with some six women, Samoa News overheard some colorful Samoan conversation among them about the problems they faced and hopefully they would get their money today. And they all have their take on the cause of the problem.

One woman, loudly said, “Well the car dealer will for sure tow away my car if the payment is not made”, to which the other women responded with laughter and Samoan jokes ensued — in the elevator as it reached the ground floor and all the way to outside the Centennial Building.

A woman who followed Samoa News into the parking lot said, with laughter, “You are such a faikala, go home already.”