A technical glitch with Bank of Ireland’s online app allowed customers to withdraw up to $1,000, even if they didn’t have sufficient funds in their accounts.
According to news agency Reuters, due to the glitch, the money could be transferred into a digital account and withdrawn via an ATM.
As news of the software glitch spread, hundreds of customers rushed to ATMs across the country on Tuesday night to cash in. Social media was abuzz with pictures and videos showing long queues outside ATMs in several cities, including the capital Dublin.
To manage the situation, Ireland’s national police, the Garda, were deployed to various locations to prevent people from withdrawing money and to disperse the queues, the Irish Times reported.
Bank of Ireland acknowledged the issue and confirmed that it was working on resolving the technical problem that was affecting various services including its mobile app.
“We are aware that the technical issue meant some customers were able to withdraw or transfer funds above their normal limits,” the bank said in a statement on Wednesday apologizing for the outages.
The bank also cautioned customers that if they transferred or withdrew funds beyond their normal limits, the money would be debited from their accounts. This warning came as people withdrew large sums from cash machines despite having little or no funds in their accounts.
But on Wednesday, customers still flooded the social media account with angry messages, reporting that their balances had not been updated correctly or that their online banking services remained disrupted.
Some users said that they could not verify that monthly rent or mortgage payments had cleared, and others complained that they were scared to spend in case they accidentally went into overdraft, or that they were having trouble reaching support services to discuss a repayment plan.
A technical malfunction with the Bank of Ireland’s systems meant people were able to withdraw large amounts of money from cash machines, regardless of their bank balance.
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— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 16, 2023
