IT Problem Leaves TIAA-CREF Clients Without Access to Funds

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Randall <rvh40 () insightbb com>
Date: November 28, 2005 4:03:31 AM EST
To: Dave <dave () farber net>, Dewayne Hendricks  
<dewayne () warpspeed com>, JMG <johnmacsgroup () yahoogroups com>
Subject: IT Problem Leaves TIAA-CREF Clients Without Access to Funds

http://www.eweek.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=166139,00.asp

IT Problem Leaves TIAA-CREF Clients Without Access to Funds
November 25, 2005

By  Renee Boucher Ferguson
The day before Thanksgiving—and just days before a major holiday weekend
—potentially thousands of customers of the Teachers Insurance and
Annuity Association–College Retirement Equities Fund were unable to
access funds from their accounts, according to a frustrated customer who
contacted Ziff Davis Media.

According to an e-mail sent from a TIAA-CREF client, the huge retirement
plan association is in the midst of a platform upgrade that has gone
awry. The issues began to surface with customers on Tuesday, Nov. 15,
and had initially affected about 30 people. By the following Wednesday
the matter had escalated to the point where "thousands" of customers
were feeling the pinch.


"Many of us have mortgages due, or other cash needs which simply are not
being processed," said the TIAA-CREF client, in his e-mail to eWEEK.
"TIAA-CREF has appointed 'escalation teams' to a. try and get something
done, and b. reassure participants that something is being done."

Despite an "intervention" planned for later in the day Tuesday by
TIAA-CREF consultants, the issues were unsolved by midday Wednesday,
according to the e-mail.

A TIAA-CREF official confirmed that the company is working to solve an
IT-related problem, but said it is minor in scale.

"Our platform is fully operational and our participants are able to
withdraw funds," said TIAA-CREF spokesman Glen Weiner, in a statement
released Wednesday. "We have had very minor delays in a very small
number of transactions. Impacted participants have been identified and
corrective actions have been or are near completion."

New York City–based TIAA-CREF is one of the largest private retirement
systems in the United States, with more than 3 million members from the
academic community, and about 15,000 institutional investors.

Check out eWEEK.com's Finance Center for the latest news, views and
analysis on financial applications and services for the enterprise and
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