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Bank of Ireland says it has fixed glitch that sparked flurry of withdrawals
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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By Padraic Halpin
DUBLIN (Reuters) -Bank of Ireland has fixed technical problems that affected its services and allowed some customers to withdraw or transfer funds above what was actually in their accounts, it said on Wednesday morning.
Among other problems, a glitch with the bank’s online app had allowed customers with low balances or no money in their account to transfer up to 1,000 euros ($1,090) into a linked account with a digital banking app, such as Revolut, that could be withdrawn via an ATM, local media reported on Tuesday.
Irish police said late on Tuesday they were aware of an unusual volume of activity at some ATMs across the country. Pictures posted on social media purported to show queues at some ATMs after the glitch became a trending topic on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
A Reuters reporter did not see any queues at a selection of ATMs in the centre of Dublin late on Tuesday.
A statement from Ireland’s largest lender by assets said: “Yesterday a technical issue impacted a number of Bank of Ireland’s services. Our teams restored these services overnight and all services are available to customers this morning.”
“We are aware that the technical issue meant some customers were able to withdraw or transfer funds above their normal limits. These transfers and withdrawals will be applied to customers accounts today.”
Asked for further detail on the problem, a bank spokesperson said there was nothing to add beyond it being a technical issue.
“We urge any customer who may find themselves in financial difficulty due to overdrawing on their account to contact us. We sincerely apologise for the disruption this outage caused.” the bank’s statement added.
The bank first said at 1450 GMT on Tuesday that it was aware that customers using its mobile app and online service were experiencing difficulties.
Customers had complained to Bank of Ireland on social media that they had not been able to access their account online, their bank card had been declined for payment and were unable to withdraw funds from their account.
Bank of Ireland shares were down 0.2% in early trade.
Ireland’s central bank said it was monitoring the situation and engaging with Bank of Ireland to ensure any issues and errors identified were resolved for customers.
A spokesperson for Revolut in London had no immediate comment. The digital banking platform said earlier this year that it had more than two million customers in Ireland.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin, additional reporting by Sinead Cruise in LondonEditing by David Goodman and Mark Potter)
A technical glitch is a temporary malfunction or error in a system or software that can disrupt normal operations, such as banking services.
An ATM, or Automated Teller Machine, is a banking machine that allows customers to perform financial transactions, such as withdrawals and deposits, without the need for a human teller.
A digital banking app is a mobile application that allows users to access banking services, manage accounts, and conduct transactions from their smartphones or tablets.
A withdrawal is the act of taking money out of a bank account, either through an ATM or by visiting a bank branch.
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