Bank of America’s (BAC.N) mobile app flashed a message on Friday that said customers could face temporary delays in depositing funds into their accounts after a technical glitch impacted multiple financial institutions. The issue appears to stem from The Clearing House, a core payments system infrastructure owned by some of the largest commercial banks in the world, which issued an advisory on its website and confirmed to CNBC that it had experienced “an error” with one file that caused some ACH payments to not appear correctly in customer accounts. The company added that the problem was not a cybersecurity breach, and it is working with impacted banks to correct the error.
BofA’s customers took to social media to express their frustration. Some posted that their accounts were overdrawn or had no money, while others questioned why it was taking so long for deposits and other transactions to show up in their accounts. Others noted that they could not contact bank representatives over the phone or online, with many messages saying their call could not be completed due to extenuating circumstances. At a BofA branch in Houston, ABC13 reports that a line of more than a dozen people waited to speak with a representative, with several customers saying their money was missing from their account.
Customers of other banks also reported that they are experiencing problems with their account balances. A site called Down Detector shows over 12,000 complaints for BofA and other banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, and Wells Fargo. Customers reported they needed help accessing their online or mobile apps to check their balances, transfer money, or make credit card payments.
The issues come as the nation’s biggest banks face increasing pressure from regulators to improve their services to consumers and investors. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently released a report accusing the top 10 banks of charging millions of customers unnecessary fees and failing to act in their best interests. The banks have disputed the findings of the CFPB and promised to review the case.
At the same time, big banks are shifting away from relying on wealth management as their primary source of revenue and investing in digital capabilities for consumer and business banking. Last year, Bank of America cut jobs in its wealth management division and invested more than $722 million into Zelle, a peer-to-peer payment service owned by Early Warning and backed by many of the country’s largest banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
Zelle allows people to send and receive money from their bank accounts to other people in a secure, fast, and easy way. Bank of America has been working on improving Zelle and is implementing changes to protect its customers’ money better. However, the bank’s wealth management business is still responsible for a significant portion of its profits, with BofA’s wealth unit reporting a 7-percent rise in quarterly profit to $4.5 billion.