[HN Gopher] Citi Can't Have Its $900M Back
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Citi Can't Have Its $900M Back
        
       Author : retzkek
       Score  : 22 points
       Date   : 2021-02-17 18:13 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.bloomberg.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.bloomberg.com)
        
       | Shivetya wrote:
       | The requirements of the software to check specific boxes that are
       | not obvious is going to make this incident part of some UI 101
       | classes.
       | 
       | This all screams that the feature was grafted unto an existing
       | form and no one wanted to spend the time to update it or no one
       | wanted to create a dialog and form dedicated to what they wanted
       | to accomplish.
       | 
       | sadly, co opting existing forms and code isn't unique to Citi
        
         | jjeaff wrote:
         | Even given the bad UI form, the error, and likely many others
         | like it, could easily have been avoided by a more verbose
         | confirmation. Rather than a simple warning, "money will be sent
         | out of our accounts" a warning showing a brief synopsis of the
         | totals and where they will be sent would be much more helpful.
        
       | madhadron wrote:
       | This seems like a case where an interface like Scratch to
       | assemble transactions with a live description of what will be
       | sent to whom alongside, then the whole thing sent for review like
       | a programmer would do code review, would be the best interface.
        
         | yarcob wrote:
         | It's stupid that the program doesn't show a preview of all
         | transactions that will be executed before it does them.
         | 
         | My online banking has that, I don't get why software for
         | managing 900m dollar loans doesn't have that.
         | 
         | What good is it if you require three people to sign off on the
         | transaction when noone actually looks at the transactions!!
        
       | dooglius wrote:
       | Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24222045
        
         | retzkek wrote:
         | Now that the decision is out we have more details on what
         | caused the blunder, and it's a good (terrifying?) lesson in the
         | importance of good system and UI design:
         | 
         | > Citi's software will only let you pay principal to some
         | lenders if you pretend to pay it to every lender, and it will
         | only let you pretend to pay principal to every lender if you
         | check the "just pretend" box next to "PRINCIPAL" (fine!) and
         | "FUND" (what?) and "FRONT" (what even?).
         | 
         | > Raj then proceeded with the final steps to approve the
         | transfers, which prompted a warning on his computer screen --
         | referred to as a "stop sign" -- stating: "Account used is Wire
         | Account and Funds will be sent out of the bank. Do you want to
         | continue?" But "[t]he 'stop sign' did not indicate the amount
         | that would be 'sent out of the bank,' or whether it constituted
         | an amount equal to the intended interest payment, an amount
         | equal to the outstanding principal on the loan, or a total of
         | both." Because Raj intended to release "the interim interest
         | payment to [the] [L]enders," he therefore clicked "YES."
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2021-02-17 21:02 UTC)