Bank of America Customers See $0 Balances Amid Nationwide Outage

Thousands of Bank of America customers experienced significant service disruptions on October 2, reporting network outages that prevented them from accessing their bank accounts. Many users were alarmed to find their account balances displaying as $0, prompting widespread frustration and concern.

Reports of the service issues began around 4:26 PM UTC on October 2, peaking approximately an hour later. During this peak, nearly 18,000 Bank of America customers reported problems within a 15-minute window, according to data from Downdetector, a real-time network outage tracking platform.

A staggering 98% of these reports were related to the bank’s mobile and online banking applications, indicating that most affected customers were trying to access their accounts through digital platforms.

Bank of America’s Response

As of now, Bank of America has not issued a public statement addressing the outage. However, reports indicated that the bank communicated with CNN, asserting that the network outages had “largely been resolved.”

Later, in a statement received at 1:01 AM UTC on October 3, Bank of America informed Cointelegraph that the “technology issues have been fully resolved.”

Despite these assertions, several comments on Downdetector suggested that the problem persisted for some customers.

“Everyone is saying it’s fixed; it’s not!!” a user named Corey lamented.

Another user, Buff Barnaby, echoed these concerns:

“Still not fixed been out at least EIGHT hours!”

Customer Reactions

The outage led to widespread criticism among Bank of America customers, many of whom expressed anger and anxiety over the IT glitch. Several users highlighted the alarming disparity between their reported account balances and their outstanding debts.

“My money is gone but conveniently my debt is still there. Bank of America sucks,” said user Anchor Baby on X.

The issues were not limited to Bank of America’s mobile app. User Kerim reported challenges at a physical branch:

“Went to branch and they are not allowing deposits or withdrawals.”

Moreover, some customers mentioned that while ATMs were unable to display their account balances, they were still able to withdraw cash.

While many customers responded with frustration, some maintained a light-hearted perspective during the ordeal. Several Bitcoin enthusiasts pointed out that the situation underscored the importance of self-custodying funds. They highlighted Bitcoin’s impressive uptime record, noting that the cryptocurrency has not suffered a network outage since March 2013, when the network was still largely centralized.

However, the same cannot be said for all blockchains. Other platforms like Solana, Canto, Zilliqa, and Linea have each experienced at least one halt this year. Additionally, other cryptocurrency exchanges, such as BitForex and Lykke, suspended withdrawals after suffering hacks earlier in the year.

Previous Incidents and Broader Context

The Bank of America outage is not an isolated incident. In another notable event last November, thousands of Americans experienced delays in payments when the Federal Reserve’s Automated Clearing House—a payment network used by businesses to transfer wages into employee bank accounts—suffered a network outage.

Interestingly, Google Finance data reveals that the recent IT glitch did not have a noticeable impact on Bank of America’s stock price (BAC), which traded relatively flat on October 2. Additionally, BAC’s share price remained resilient despite facing $338 million in sell orders from Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway between September 30 and October 2, according to Bloomberg.

This stability in stock price suggests that, while the outage was a significant inconvenience for customers, it did not undermine investor confidence in Bank of America as a financial institution.

The recent outage at Bank of America highlights the vulnerabilities that can arise in digital banking systems and the significant impact such disruptions can have on customer trust. With thousands of customers reporting issues accessing their accounts and seeing erroneous balances, the bank faces scrutiny over its technology infrastructure and customer service response.

As financial institutions increasingly rely on technology to serve their customers, ensuring robust systems and clear communication during outages will be crucial. While Bank of America has stated that the issues have been resolved, the customer feedback suggests that the trust may take time to rebuild.