Capital One customers couldn't withdraw money for hours during system outage
What's in your wallet? Not enough cash, said angry Capital One customers after the bank suffered a widespread systems outage on Friday that prevented them from withdrawing money, blocked direct deposits and interfered with other transactions.
Capital One said on Twitter that it was experiencing a "technical issue impacting customer money movement, including direct deposits, and the ability for some customers to access accounts."
Capital One is experiencing a technical issue impacting customer money movement, including direct deposits, and the ability for some customers to access accounts. We are actively working to resolve the issue and restore all services. We greatly apologize for the inconvenience.
— Capital One (@AskCapitalOne) November 1, 2019
According to the website DownDetector, Capital One customers started reporting problems early Friday morning, with 3,200 complaints received as of 10 a.m. In the noon hour, complaints had fallen to just under 800.
By 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, the bank said the issue had been solved. In a statement, the company said: "Customers are not responsible for any fees associated with this issue. We encourage customers to reach out to us if they continue to experience any difficulties. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience."
"I'm missing a chunk of my check"
On social media, several people expressed frustration about direct deposits that never showed up in their accounts, while others said they logged in to be informed — wrongly — that they had no money.
Friday was payday for Rafaela Estrada, a model based in Maryland, but she said she couldn't access her account or get any answers despite calling the bank four times.
"Now I'm missing a chunk of my check and have to figure things out," she told CBS News. That could include finding another bank.
"This last time was it for me. If I cannot depend or trust that my bank will have my funds, why then should I continue to do service with them?" she said.
One Twitter user also complained about not being able to buy a ticket for a business trip and getting penalized by a company that couldn't process a payment linked to the person's Capital One account. Another person worried about what impact the outage would have on clearing written checks that could presumably bounce.
I travel out of town for work this morning and I cannot purchase a ticket. I've also received a penalty from a vendor that attempted to process a payment. Happy November 1st, amirite?!
— Quiet Madman (@Psycho_Chips) November 1, 2019
Guess what. It’s rent day. What’s going to happen is my check going to bounce???? I also have payments scheduled.
— Bernard Grobman (@nycproducer) November 1, 2019
When this reporter attempted to log in to her Capital One account at 11:35 a.m. Eastern time, all that loaded was an error page.
The outage was badly timed, coming on both a Friday and the first of the month — a date on which millions of people typically pay their bills.