Bank of Ireland says it has fixed glitch that sparked flurry of withdrawals

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen outside a branch of the Bank of Ireland in Galway, Ireland, August 6, 2020. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

By Padraic Halpin

DUBLIN (Reuters) -Bank of Ireland has fixed technical problems that allowed some customers to withdraw or transfer funds above what was in their accounts, it said on Wednesday morning, after social media posts about the glitch prompted queues at ATMs.

Among other issues, a glitch with the bank's online app had allowed customers with low balances or no money in their account to transfer up to 1,000 euros ($1,090) into a linked account with a digital banking app, such as Revolut, that could be withdrawn via an ATM, local media reported on Tuesday.

Irish police said late on Tuesday they were aware of an unusual volume of activity at some ATMs across the country. Pictures posted on social media purported to show queues at some ATMs after the glitch became a trending topic on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

A Reuters reporter did not see any queues at a selection of ATMs in the centre of Dublin late on Tuesday.

A statement from Ireland's largest lender by assets said: "Yesterday a technical issue impacted a number of Bank of Ireland's services. Our teams restored these services overnight and all services are available to customers this morning."

"We are aware that the technical issue meant some customers were able to withdraw or transfer funds above their normal limits. These transfers and withdrawals will be applied to customers' accounts today."

Irish Finance Minister Michael McGrath asked the central bank to establish a full account of what happened, and whether any further steps are required to reduce the risk of such outages across the sector.

The central bank said it was monitoring the situation and engaging with Bank of Ireland to ensure any issues and errors identified were resolved for customers.

Asked for further detail on the problem, a bank spokesperson said there was nothing to add beyond it being a technical issue.

"We urge any customer who may find themselves in financial difficulty due to overdrawing on their account to contact us. We sincerely apologise for the disruption this outage caused." the bank's statement added.

It also said the bank's app and online services may be slow on Wednesday as it catches up with processing payments.

The spokesperson said the volume of transactions conducted on Tuesday night was not a significant proportion of average daily flows and that customers would not be charged interest on any overdrawn amounts.

The bank first said at 1450 GMT on Tuesday it was aware that customers using its mobile app and online service were experiencing difficulties.

Customers had complained to Bank of Ireland on social media that they had not been able to access their account online, their bank card had been declined for payment and were unable to withdraw funds from their account.

Bank of Ireland shares were flat at 1115 GMT.

A spokesperson for Revolut in London had no immediate comment. The digital banking platform said earlier this year that it had more than two million customers in Ireland.