Customers at Big Banks Report Account Problems

Customers at JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Truist and U.S. Bank, among others, encountered problems Friday and beyond with delayed direct deposits, an issue apparently tied to a processing snag at a multi-bank clearinghouse network.

Outage monitoring site Downdetector indicated various problems at multiple institutions, including issues with account balances, transactions and deposits. The site logged hundreds of reports on various account snags.

While problem reports on Downdetector had subsided significantly by Monday, social media posts there and on X, formerly Twitter, indicated the trouble hadn’t been resolved for everyone.

“The issue is affecting multiple banks and bank customers because a payroll file or files haven’t come through yet,” a JPMorgan Chase spokesman told ThinkAdvisor by email Friday.

A Wells Fargo spokesperson referred a question on the matter to The Clearing House, a company that operates payment networks that clear and settle more than $2 trillion daily.

“The Clearing House (TCH) has experienced a processing issue with a single ACH file. TCH is working with impacted financial institutions on the matter,” a spokesman for The Clearing House told ThinkAdvisor via email around noon Friday.

TCH operates the Electronics Payment Network (EPN), an automated clearinghouse (ACH) network, and the Federal Reserve operates FedACH. These are the two authorized automated clearinghouses in the U.S.; they sort the payments received from banks and direct them to the receiving financial institutions.

The glitch, attributable to “human error,” touched less than 1% of the daily ACH network volume, the TCH spokesperson said in a phone interview later; he didn’t immediately know exactly how many banks and customers it affected.

A U.S. Bank spokesperson told ThinkAdvisor in an email Friday afternoon: “We’re aware of an industry-wide technical issue impacting some deposits for 11/3. Customer accounts (remain) secure, and balances will be updated when deposits are received. We do not have an estimate on timing at this point. Customers do not need to take any action.”

A Fed website carried a notice posted Friday afternoon saying a file distributed by EPN to its participating institutions during a processing window Thursday evening contained an error. EPN informed the Fed that the items can’t be processed by the receiving institutions because account and recipient data are obscured.

“EPN has instructed its participants to initiate returns, and originating depository financial institutions will need to be prepared to initiate new items to complete the payments,” the Fed reported.

Indeed, some customers indicated on social media they were told a clearinghouse used by many banks had experienced an outage overnight.

Numerous users on Downdetector and X, formerly Twitter, complained about missing direct deposits.

“Anybody else just not get their direct deposit today? My employer had an issue with the HR system, but seeing other folks online outside my company saying they didn’t get theirs either. Could be a bank issue?” one X user tweeted around 10:30 a.m. Eastern time Friday.

Another user tweeted to Social Security in the afternoon: “Why is my direct deposit late?”

Yet another X user posted a screenshot with a message from Bank of America’s website saying some deposits may be temporarily delayed “due to an issue impacting multiple financial institutions.” The message said accounts were secure, balances would be updated and customer needn’t take any action.

“I work for a payroll company and our phones are ringing off the hook,” a Downdetector user posted on the site’s Chase Bank page.

Downdetector logged nearly 190 problem reports on Chase accounts around 11 a.m. Friday, with most related to balances and transactions. The site showed over 300 problem reports about Bank of America at 11:35 a.m., 55% classified as involving online banking.

Truist drew more than 500 problem reports on Downdetector at one point but the number had fallen to under 200 around noon. U.S. Bank showed 165 reports about the same hour.

X users also complained that anticipated direct deposits hadn’t landed in their Huntington Bank accounts, although problem reports about the bank reached about 80 at most on Downdetector. Downdetector comments and site logs also indicated direct deposit delays at PNC, TD Bank and Citizens, which each showed fewer than 50 problem reports.

On Monday, Downdetector showed nearly 60 problem reports for Chase, mostly related to account balances and transactions. Some users reported they hadn’t yet received their direct deposits, while others had.

The site also showed nearly 75 problem reports for Bank of America on Monday, a majority related to funds transfer. Some users reported not yet receiving teir direct deposits, while another had received theirs and wanted to know about getting refunds for fees.

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