Bank of Ireland: From cash windfall to debt recall
Bank of Ireland's mobile app and 365 Online services have been reinstated following a major technology outage on Tuesday night which inadvertently gave customers with empty bank accounts access to funds. This led to queues forming at ATMs nationwide with people assuming they were receiving free money.
However for those who withdrew cash, the bad news is that they will be paying it back to the bank.
The problem occurred when Bank of Ireland's online app let people with no money in their account move up to €500 into their Revolut account. After doing that, they could take out the cash from the Revolut account using an ATM. Once customers realised that they could withdraw money on Tuesday, there was a stampede across the country with lengthy queues quickly forming and subsequently going viral when posted to social media. In certain instances, gardai were instructed to go to locations where queues had formed. A spokesperson for the gardai said that this was carried out on a "case-by-case basis" and that "local decisions were made depending on the public safety and public order".
A spokesperson for Bank of Ireland confirmed to the Cork Independent that the glitch was not a cyber-attack, and they said that they discovered the technical issue which impacted the app and 365online on Tuesday afternoon. They did not give details about how many people withdrew money from Cork ATMs on Tuesday night before the glitch was restored.
For those who withdrew money from their accounts while the app services were offline, the bank has warned that the cash will still be debited from their accounts. A Bank of Ireland spokesman issued a statement to the PA news agency, saying: “We would like to remind customers that if they transfer or withdraw funds – including over their normal limits – this money will be debited from their account."
Speaking about the outage, Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher said the glitch is an example of the lack of investment in customer service by Irish banks. “There must be an investigation into the Bank of Ireland debacle because ultimately Irish bank account holders could not access their accounts or their money. This is not acceptable in 2023,” he said.