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A global Microsoft outage has disrupted email services at major banks in Zambia, forcing Standard Chartered Bank Zambia, First National Bank (FNB) ABSA and Stanbic Bank Zambia to issue notices warning customers of communication challenges.
The disruption, which affected Outlook and other Microsoft workplace services across 74 countries and territories, has left the banks unable to receive or respond to some customer emails.
Standard Chartered Bank Zambia said its email-related services were affected by the global outage, although its other services remained operational.
“Due to a global Microsoft outage, our email related services are currently impacted. Other services remain unaffected. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. During technology outages, beware of scams. Verify before clicking. Never share passwords, OTPs or banking details. Report suspicious transactions to the bank,” the bank said in a customer notice.
Stanbic Bank Zambia also announced that its email services had been temporarily disrupted following the outage.
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In a customer notice issued on Friday and posted on its official Facebook page, the bank said the disruption would continue until Microsoft restored the affected services.
However, Stanbic assured customers that all other banking services remained fully operational.
Customers requiring assistance were advised to contact the bank’s Customer Contact Centre on 8200.
The bank appealed for customers’ patience and understanding as efforts to restore its email services continued.
FNB added that: “Please be advised that due to a global Microsoft outage, our email services are temporarily unavailable. All other FNB services remain fully operational. We apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.”
ABSA Bank Zambia: “Please be advised that a global Microsoft service disruption is currently affecting our email services. As a result, we are temporarily unable to receive or respond to emails. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience as Microsoft works to restore normal service. Please note that banking services remain available.”
The bank indicated that to keep your story going, you can continue to bank with us through our digital banking channels, including ATMs, the Absa Mobile Banking App, Internet Banking, and USSD *229#.
The disruption comes as Microsoft continues working to restore its workplace services following the global outage, which affected Outlook, Teams, Copilot and other Microsoft 365 applications.
More than 12 hours after the problems began at around 16:00 GMT on Thursday, the technology company was still working to stabilise affected infrastructure, with users in several regions reporting difficulties accessing its platforms, according to Al Jazeera.
Microsoft initially said it was investigating disruptions affecting users in the Americas but later confirmed that customers in other regions could also be affected.
The company attributed the connectivity problems to increased pressure on affected infrastructure, saying several servers had unexpectedly become unavailable.
Microsoft said it was monitoring server performance across regions, improving system capacity and checking whether corrective software updates had been successfully applied following infrastructure reboots.
The outage monitoring platform Downdetector recorded reports from users in 74 countries and territories within an hour of the disruption beginning.
Technology analyst and journalist Rupert Goodwins told Al Jazeera that although the scale of the outage was significant, such disruptions were not entirely unprecedented.
He described the incident as embarrassing for Microsoft and frustrating for users who depend on its services for their daily work.
The disruption has highlighted the dependence of businesses and financial institutions on external technology platforms for essential communication and day-to-day operations.
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