A Bank of America Glitch Sent Customers Into a Panic Over Missing Funds

[Hydrogen]

On Wednesday morning, Bank of America customers began reporting issues with payments processed through the money transfer service Zelle, which led to money disappearing from their accounts.

Many customers took to Twitter to express their outrage as they began to notice the missing funds.

One user tweeted, “I almost lost my mind when I saw $2,000 was missing from my account.”

Another said, “So cool how @BankofAmerica magically disappeared a large Zelle transaction that HAD ALREADY POSTED and I had used to pay bills. Now I’m extremely in debt in my checking and I can’t get ahold of them. Unbelievable.”

Zelle is a money transfer service that works with U.S. banks to move funds directly from one bank account to another. Zelle transfers are quick and free––making the service a popular alternative to credit card transactions that can take a few days to hit users’ accounts and often require fees and bank transfers. However, the service has been under fire by government officials for being an easy facilitator for fraud and theft.

The website downdetector.com reported over 1,000 outage reports for Bank of America by 10:30 a.m. EST, coupled with a similar spike in Zelle outage reports.

Over a customer support social media account, Zelle redirected users to Bank of America, saying, “The Zelle App & Network are up & running. We are aware of an issue that is impacting Bank Of America customers when sending & receiving payments. We recommend contacting Bank of America’s customer support team for additional updates.”

Zelle does not offer any protection for payments made through their services—which means that there’s no safeguard for customers if a transaction goes wrong.

Bank of America told TIME that, as of 3:00 p.m. EST, the issue has been resolved and customers are receiving their funds back.

The Charlotte Observer reported that customers received a notice when they logged into their online bank accounts on Wednesday, saying that transactions were not missing, but delayed.

“Zelle transactions made between January 14th and January 17th may be delayed in occurring and posting to accounts as requested,” the notice said. “Transfers will be completed and will appear in your account activity and balances as soon as possible.”

In 2020, Bank of America customers reported another major glitch, with accounts showing inaccurate balances of as little as $0. The company acknowledged the issue, saying at the time that any inaccuracies did not impact their actual funds. “Some clients may currently see an inaccurate account balance in online or mobile banking. There is no impact to their accounts and their information remains secure,” Bank of America said.

Global payment service ACI Worldwide reported last year that fraud loss in the United States from Authorized Push Payments—scams that trick victims into willingly making large bank transfers to fraudsters—is expected to rise to $3 billion in 2026.

In a report issued last fall, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said four banks provided data reporting over 190,000 cases of fraudulent transactions on Zelle involving over $213 million of payments in 2021 and the first half of 2022. In the majority of the cases, the report noted, individuals were not repaid the amount they were defrauded. Zelle did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

Warren called out both services on Twitter Wednesday afternoon, writing “@BankofAmerica and @Zelle are apparently failing customers again, with money somehow disappearing from accounts. This should be fixed immediately and customers should be compensated. I’ve called out serious fraud issues on Zelle and this is their latest failure.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-bank-of-america-glitch-sent-customers-into-a-panic-over-missing-funds/ar-AA16uJ5D

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Uncertain as to whether this is the type of publicity US banks and financial institutions need in 2022.

This is nothing new. There has been no shortage of this type of news over the last decade. I have a feeling that the majority of people who were once completely oblivious to these types of occurrences are becoming closer to news cycles and current events.

If banks in 2007 had a glitch like this one, the american people would not have cared. But things may have changed to a point where people are becoming much more savvy and connected to current events. In which case, I don't know if financial institutions want this type of negative publicity, considering the fallout could be more serious and widespread today than in previous eras.

These types of casual glitches also make it difficult for banking industry CEOs like Jamie Dimon to comment on crypto or bitcoin.

I hope people are aware of events like these and taking steps to adapt and prepare to our shifting economic climate.

[Hispo]

I read about this today, very serious considering Zelle is an important payment processor here in my country.
In this place, where people can barely have some savings, seeing your money disappear that way must have been quite traumatic for people and businesses alike.

Just another problem of centralization solved by Bitcoin, I guess.  

[Zlantann]

I read about this today, very serious considering Zelle is an important payment processor here in my country.
In this place, where people can barely have some savings, seeing your money disappear that way must have been quite traumatic for people and businesses alike.

Just another problem of centralization solved by Bitcoin, I guess.  

There no perfect systems anywhere because there might be hitches sometimes. Although throughout my dealings with Bitcoin wallets I have never experienced any form of transaction failure or balance issues, all my transactions have been successful. But most of these Central Bank Chiefs always see Bitcoin as the illegitimate child of money and fiat as the legitimate offspring.

Thank God the issue was resolved immediately because in my country you would have to queue, fill firms and wait for weeks for it to be reversed. But in Bitcoin just ensure that your keys are safe and you have the right address during transactions.

[mk4]

Ah, banking glitches. Here in the Philippines, you'd be totally surprised if there wasn't at least a single major banking issue when it comes to the major banks lmao. It's just so bad that the panic is pretty much minimal. This is one reason that I slightly prefer holding BTC and USDC than storing money in local banks.

[Charles-Tim]

It's just so bad that the panic is pretty much minimal. This is one reason that I slightly prefer holding BTC and USDC than storing money in local banks.

I would have preferred fiat-backed stable coins to fiat but most fiat-backed stable coins can be freezed on noncustodial wallet directly which still makes it to be centralized just like USDT, USDC, BUSD and many others. You created an awesome topic for it in the past. If I should be sincere, I too have some stable coins that can be freezed on noncustodial wallet, but I am always panic for my funds not to be freezed at anytime because it can.

[hugeblack]

What can an average citizen do? Adoption will force you to use any service, no matter how bad it is, because it is fast and provides a perfect solution to your current problem. Therefore, people will complain, start thinking about alternatives, and will return to the old service whenever they feel that it provides them with quick solutions and is used by all their friends/family.

It is not limited to banking services, but even social media. There are many excellent options and alternatives, but the largest number of users is the one who has the say in the end.

If we see an increase in Bitcoin adoption and scalability solutions are available, then they will be excellent alternatives to banking services and may deal them a fatal blow.

[Moneyprism]

this is a traditional type of banking where when they make a mistake they will only apologize and not give compensation,,, but when the customer makes a mistake they will blame them .. moreover they don't provide any protection which really makes me wonder why customers don't care about this from the start

[pawel7777]

this is a traditional type of banking where when they make a mistake they will only apologize and not give compensation,,, but when the customer makes a mistake they will blame them .. moreover they don't provide any protection which really makes me wonder why customers don't care about this from the start

This reminds me of a situation from years ago in the UK, when some cash machines developed some weird glitch and were paying out the double of the amount requested by users. The banks and the national media started the outcry that if people don't return the overpaid money, they'd be accused of theft/fraud. So essentially blaming customers for the faulty machines.
I still think that you shouldn't be keeping money paid out to you in error, but it's on banks to take responsibility for that and to organise a convenient way such money could be returned.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

With what has happened recently in the banking system, people are no longer safe keeping their funds in the bank. Should people start putting their savings into Bitcoin along with it? I don't know how others may be seeing it, but the banking sector is failing gradually. People will have to deal with these recent occurrences and be prepared to see them happening more frequently in the future. How can someone trust their money with a bank, and if anything happens to the funds, they can't do anything?
Naturally, some people are careless about keeping their security details safe, but that's what they must learn if everyone begins to use Bitcoin.

On January 12, 2023, 6PR published a publication about a hardworking 18-year-old Albany resident, Aurora Casilli, who lost her life savings of $36,000 in a second as she fell victim to a sophisticated phone scam.She is a customer of the National Australia Bank (NAB).

Aurora told 6PR Mornings host Gary Adshead, that she woke to a text from NAB that stated an unauthorised transaction had gone through on her account.

“I was immediately freaking out – so I didn’t think for a second and contacted the 1800 number and once I clicked on the number it was like ‘welcome to NAB please select your options’ so I selected my option, the little song went on for an hour, where I was then asked to provide my details,

“Everything was so legit, I could not believe it. They basically said no worries we will create a new account where you can transfer your money – I immediately transferred the money and that’s when the guy hung up the call,” Ms Casilli said.

you can listen to Casilli as she explained: https://omny.fm/shows/6pr-mornings/hardworking-teen-36-000-out-of-pocket-after-sophis

Kyle Carey also fell victim to a similar scam as Aurora's and claims to know 15 victims too.

Kyle Carey, is another NAB customer who has recently fallen victim to a similar scam.

Kyle told 6PR Mornings that he’s a member of a Facebook group with 15 other people who are also victims of these NAB scams.

“I got a message from the NAB number that always messages me and basically they sent me a verification code – so I called that number and got put into a holding line – they basically got me to transfer $8,000 into a new account,” Mr Carey said.

“I got told by NAB to call the actual fraud team and they said it will be a 6-8 week process and then 2 weeks after it happened, NAB emailed me saying that they won’t be able to retrieve any funds and that they feel like they’re not liable.”

How can someone lose $36,000 and another person lose $8,000 of hard-earned money? People trust their money with the bank and get frustrated for it. I don't know how others view this, but I am so bitter with all this incident. When I was growing up, I was not hearing all this sort of scam news about banks; people's money was protected by the bank. WHAT'S YOUR OPINION ABOUT BANK?

[Gyfts]

If banks in 2007 had a glitch like this one, the american people would not have cared. But things may have changed to a point where people are becoming much more savvy and connected to current events. In which case, I don't know if financial institutions want this type of negative publicity, considering the fallout could be more serious and widespread today than in previous eras.

These types of casual glitches also make it difficult for banking industry CEOs like Jamie Dimon to comment on crypto or bitcoin.

I hope people are aware of events like these and taking steps to adapt and prepare to our shifting economic climate.

The global banking system hinges on pixels on a screen. With blockchain related technology the pixels that appear on a screen are at least verifiable -- with the modern banking system there is no actual account of any funds because they become generated by the government on their whim.

...

To be fair, that isn't an issue with the banking system, that's an issue with criminals. There wouldn't be any protection BTC would provide to this person had she transferred funds via crypto.

[arallmuus]

Ah, banking glitches. Here in the Philippines, you'd be totally surprised if there wasn't at least a single major banking issue when it comes to the major banks lmao. It's just so bad that the panic is pretty much minimal. This is one reason that I slightly prefer holding BTC and USDC than storing money in local banks.

Well to be fair the 'glitch' on btc network would be no blocks mined for over hours or something halting the transactions I mean there is no perfect system in this world but to be fair unless there is actually someone missing their funds in this case then its just pretty normal stuff for banking system to be glitched over for some time

[Hispo]

-snip-

There no perfect systems anywhere because there might be hitches sometimes. Although throughout my dealings with Bitcoin wallets I have never experienced any form of transaction failure or balance issues, all my transactions have been successful. But most of these Central Bank Chiefs always see Bitcoin as the illegitimate child of money and fiat as the legitimate offspring.

Even if a Bitcoin wallet showed a mistaken balance, for example, an experienced user would shifty assume it is an error produced by the wallet itself and its synchronization system. One can always check the blockchain through an explorer, it is a backup plan.

With FIAT, the backup plan is praying people at the bank do not mess with one's balance after the problem is allegedly solved. Because things like that, Bitcoin is appreciated and I dare to say: necessary.

[mk4]

I would have preferred fiat-backed stable coins to fiat but most fiat-backed stable coins can be freezed on noncustodial wallet directly which still makes it to be centralized just like USDT, USDC, BUSD and many others. You created an awesome topic for it in the past. If I should be sincere, I too have some stable coins that can be freezed on noncustodial wallet, but I am always panic for my funds not to be freezed at anytime because it can.

Yes I'm totally aware of the risks. It's just worth risking in my opinion, knowing the banks and government of the country I'm currently residing in. I simply distrust the Philippines' banks and government a lot more.

[Bananington]

If banks in 2007 had a glitch like this one, the american people would not have cared. But things may have changed to a point where people are becoming much more savvy and connected to current events. In which case, I don't know if financial institutions want this type of negative publicity, considering the fallout could be more serious and widespread today than in previous eras.

People lost money that they stored up in exchanges in cryptocurrency, People hear it and those who are still unwilling to accept bitcoins or have something against bitcoins will be out to quickly say that that is why they trust the banks more. But this has happened and even the people who have trusted the banks will begin to have a rethink because of the glitch. To a very large extent, the glitch has vindicated cryptocurrency, so people know it is possible everywhere.

[AicecreaME]

I read about this today, very serious considering Zelle is an important payment processor here in my country.
In this place, where people can barely have some savings, seeing your money disappear that way must have been quite traumatic for people and businesses alike.

Just another problem of centralization solved by Bitcoin, I guess.  

There no perfect systems anywhere because there might be hitches sometimes. Although throughout my dealings with Bitcoin wallets I have never experienced any form of transaction failure or balance issues, all my transactions have been successful. But most of these Central Bank Chiefs always see Bitcoin as the illegitimate child of money and fiat as the legitimate offspring.

Or maybe it's not some hitches but them trying to steal their customers funds lowkey, who knows. Same scenario also happened here in my country where a certain bank has the same issue, it happened twice already but not in the same year. Maybe there's some dark agenda going on inside, that's why I never do banking. I'd rather keep it in my hand or in a Bitcoin wallet so I can sleep better at night.

[rat03gopoh]

I hope people are aware of events like these and taking steps to adapt and prepare to our shifting economic climate.

How about, "Trust the bank as much as you can afford to lose.", provided you're in a safe environment.

~

Cross-border scams are kinda hard to deal with, I think it's gonna be a long struggle and most of the story, customers have to spend a lot of other costs to get support and authority to move.

[Husires]

Do these banks still raise the banner of reliability and compatibility? Visa services stopped several years ago due to a hardware failure, which led to the interruption of service for hours. (Visa outage: payment chaos after card network crashes – as it happened)

Our goal is to ensure all Visa cards work reliably 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We fell well short of this goal today and we apologise to all of our partners, and most especially, to Visa cardholders.

While in Bitcoin, this did not happen except twice (Once in 2010 "due to The Value Overflow Incident AKA CVE-2010-5139 and in 2013 AKA CVE-2013-3220)

• From 2013 Bitcoin network is 100% up time Which is something that all current banking fails to do.
• Considering that the early years of Bitcoin were experimental and not quite like what is happening now.

[Dickiy]

Is it true that they don't give compensation when there is a system error and there is no protection for your account at the bank?
If so, this is very bad for government regulated banking especially after I heard from others Zelle is one of the most important payment processors in the country.
As soon as I read the news I was quite surprised by the information, I think if this case continues the people there will look for a better alternative payment processor.
It seems that crypto is the object of choice under consideration.

[TheGreatPython]

There no perfect systems anywhere because there might be hitches sometimes. Although throughout my dealings with Bitcoin wallets I have never experienced any form of transaction failure or balance issues, all my transactions have been successful. But most of these Central Bank Chiefs always see Bitcoin as the illegitimate child of money and fiat as the legitimate offspring.

Even if a Bitcoin wallet showed a mistaken balance, for example, an experienced user would shifty assume it is an error produced by the wallet itself and its synchronization system. One can always check the blockchain through an explorer, it is a backup plan.

With FIAT, the backup plan is praying people at the bank do not mess with one's balance after the problem is allegedly solved. Because things like that, Bitcoin is appreciated and I dare to say: necessary.

That's because there are no perfect systems (like he said) so even the bitcoin that everyone here praises or the bitcoin wallets, still has their own flaws. I already experienced that synchronization error before on different wallets that I use. Sometimes the problem is on our side like our internet is only slow so we shouldn't always put the blame on them.

If it's about funds that haven't arrived yet, we can check the transaction in the block explorers to see their status. Banks have always been involved in anomalies so I wouldn't trust them. Praying doesn't always works on them. Better if all of us just use BTC because we can be our own bank here. We fully control our funds.

[Kakmakr]

Well, this is one of the reasons why you should not trust third party (centralized) services with your wealth. Bitcoin on the other hand... have "tried & tested" software ..that are Peer reviewed by independent experts in the field... that has stood the test of time.

You cannot have insiders leaking exploits or human error causing exploitable angles for attack... or creating those "backdoors" for the hackers, because everything are open-source.

Also, when problems like this happen..... Banks can easily hide the origin or reason for this problem. (It might have been a security breach, but they might report it as a glitch)