Some of the largest banks in the United States are unable to facilitate customer deposits after one of the Federal Reserve’s payment systems suffered an outage on November 3.
The Federal Reserve said the error was caused by a “processing issue” at the Automated Clearing House, a payment processing network widely used by banks and employers to deposit wages into employees’ bank accounts.
ACH is operated by the Federal Reserve Banks and the Electronic Payment Network.
Banks emphasized that customer accounts “remain secure” and the Federal Reserve says all its services resumed at 4:44 p.m. UTC time.
However, customers still complain about the terrible experience. One X user, Georgiaree Godrey, says she still hasn’t been paid and, as a result, she can’t pay her rent.
Hello. Some 3/11 deposits may be temporarily delayed due to an issue affecting several financial institutions. Your accounts remain secure and your balance will be updated as soon as the deposit is received. ^adrian
— Bank of America Help (@BofA_Help) November 3, 2023
Another X user, “Des Imoto,” reiterated that funds cannot be safe if they are missing and suggested that Bitcoin serves as a solution to the problem at hand.
“It is the opposite of insurance because the funds are lacking. #Bitcoin solves this.”
X user “LashishLizard” too asked Wells Fargo would pay any late fees imposed on them.
“So, you’re going to pay the late fees, court fees, and everything else associated with this nonsense? Because credit companies, bills, and landlords don’t want to hear that you don’t have it.”
Hello, we appreciate you contacting us. We would like to see how we can help. Please send us your full name/ZIP/phone number and we will be happy to contact you. ^adrian
— Bank of America Help (@BofA_Help) November 3, 2023
A September CNBC poll found that 61% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, up from 58% in March.
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Reports of US bank outages began to increase around 11 am UTC time on November 3.
Bank of America reports peaked at 313 in a 15-minute window at 4:00 pm UTC time, according to Downdetector. Chase and Wells Fargo reached similar peaks of 279 and 137 in roughly the same period.
The Federal Reserve launched FedNow in July, which allows banks and money transfer services to make payments instantly, without needing to rely on ACH.
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