Bank of Ireland glitch allows people with no money in accounts to withdraw upto $1,100

Bank of Ireland released a statement on Wednesday (August 16) saying that it had fixed the technical glitch that made it possible for some customers to withdraw and transfer more money than what was in their accounts.

The news spread like wildfire on social media after which people gathered in long queues outside ATMs on Tuesday. The crowd at the cash machines prompted police to be called in.

As per local media reports, some customers with no money in their bank accounts were able to withdraw up to 1,000 euros ($1,100). The bank's online application had allowed customers with low balance or no balance to transfer money into a linked account with a digital banking app, such as Revolut, that could further be withdrawn via an ATM.

"There was a huge queue - the first time I have ever seen it there, at the moment, so there must have been something wrong. I don't know what it is," Reuters quoted Newbridge resident John Lawlor as saying.

"These things happen you know, blunders, stitches... It is what this world is all about, I think. We are luckier than most," he added.

The bank cautioned customers that withdrawals and transfers, including the ones above the normal limit, would be debited from their respective accounts, potentially tipping them into expensive overdrafts.

Bank apologizes for disruption

The bank also apologized for the glitch saying, "Overnight payments to accounts may appear throughout the day. We sincerely apologise for the disruption this outage caused.

"We know it fell far below the standards our customers expect from us."

Founder of the website AskAboutMoney.com, Brendan Burgess, in a conversation with broadcaster RTE, said that the bank needed to work on its "clunky" IT systems.

But he added: "If you withdrew 1,000 euros... then queued up outside the ATM machine to withdraw that money I don't think you deserve any leeway at all.

"Fraud is fraud. If you know you have no money and you take 1,000 euros out of a bank account and you know it's not there that's fraud. Let's not say this is a problem with Bank of Ireland systems."

Previously, the Central Bank of Ireland fined Bank of Ireland for shortcomings in its IT systems, and said it was observing the implications of the outage.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE