Bank of Ireland’s ATM Party: Get Cash Now, Pay Later

A technological failure at a bank in Ireland led to a situation that seemed too good to be true, access to funds that don’t exist.

A significant technological malfunction occurred with Bank of Ireland’s systems on an undisclosed date, allowing customers with zero balance to access up to €500, according to Independent.ie.

ATM Frenzy

This led to extensive queues at ATMs across Ireland, including Dublin, Limerick, and Dundalk, and even required police intervention in some areas.

The error, which has caused great embarrassment for the bank, enabled individuals without funds in their accounts to transfer up to €500 into a Revolut account. Some claimed to have accessed €1,000, but the bank clarified that the daily withdrawal limit is €500.

The bank said: ‘We are working on a technical issue that is impacting a number of our services including our mobile app and 365Online. We are working to fix this as quickly as possible and apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused.

‘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. While we are conscious customers may not be able to check their balance at this time, they should not withdraw or transfer funds if they are likely to become overdrawn.’

Long lines were reported at ATMs in various parts of the country as people rushed to withdraw cash from their Revolut accounts. In Dundalk, police had to control the crowds.

Despite warnings on social media that the money must be repaid, the frenzy continued. The bank insists that any money taken will be treated as an unauthorised overdraft.

Previous IT Glitches

This glitch follows a day of IT issues for the bank, which reported profits of over €1 billion last month. The exact cause of the problem is still being investigated.

In June, another IT outage occurred at Bank of Ireland, but it did not result in similar unauthorized access to funds. A probe into the latest failure is expected, with the Central Bank expected to take part.

Customers are currently unable to access the bank’s mobile app and Banking 365 online services. The bank issued a statement on Twitter, apologising for the unexpected disruption and promising to fix the issue swiftly.