Some bank customers across the U.S. are dealing with deposit delays because of an error with a banking processing system on Friday.
The Federal Reserve released an alert about the problem coming from the Electronic Payments Network, a financial system associated with the Automated Clearing House (ACH), a national processor of transactions.
Bank of America alerted its customers about deposits being delayed because of the problem impacting it and other major banks. So did U.S. Bank,customers said.
“Your accounts remain secure, and your balance will be updated as soon as the deposit is received,” Bank of America told customers when they logged into their online account for the Charlotte-based bank. “You do not need to take any action.”
Charlotte-based Truist made a similar statement to its customers: “Some deposits & payments may be delayed due to a processing issue. This affects Truist & other banks. We’re working on this and will refund any resulting fees.”
Chase Bank confirmed to CNN it too was having problems with delays on some of its direct deposits.
The Charlotte Observer contacted Bank of America, Truist and Wells Fargo for comment. Truist and Wells Fargo directed questions to The Clearing House, an operator of networks that clears and settles $2 trillion each day through wire, ACH check image and real-time payments.
Bank of America referred the Observer to a Bloomberg article with The Federal Reserve and The Clearing House saying the processing errors that affected deposits and transfers at some of the nation’s biggest banks have been resolved.
File glitch blamed for problems
The Clearing House spokesman Greg MacSweeney said the company experienced a file glitch on Thursday night which impacted less than 1% of daily filings in the U.S. He explained that ACH is a delayed settlement that happens the next day after banks sends lists to the company for processing.
“That’s why we’re talking about this file being corrupted last night. It was processed last evening and we’re finding out about the errors today,” MacSweeney told The Charlotte Observer.
He said it’s a rare situation, especially with the ACH processing billions of transactions a day. MacSweeney said The Clearing House is working with financial institutions, who are working with customers impacted.
The total number of bank customers impacted by the glitch is unknown, MacSweeney said.
Online and aggravated about bank deposit delays
People vented online in various social media platforms about the delays.
“These problems are becoming more frequent. Tick tock…. hate to say, but system is cracking,” one person wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Another person stated, “This is beyond frustrating. Causes renters to have late fees. Why is it happening? #Rentner #Housing”
And a third person simply said on X, “Stay prepared and carry cash.”
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