Citizens Bank Glitch Makes Direct Deposits Disappear, Leaves Bills Unpaid

Image courtesy of Adam Fagen

Citizen Bank customers expecting to see their paychecks added to the balance of their accounts Friday morning were disappointed to find that wasn’t the case: A glitch in the bank’s system prevented paychecks and other direct deposits from being processed. 

The Plain Dealer reports that the issue, which has since been fixed, affected more than just direct deposits, with the bank noting that online bill pay, and point-of-sale, ATM and credit transactions were also impacted.

A rep for the bank blamed the issue on “a vendor processing issue,” that affected customers in the 11 states where Citizens operates. The bank first addressed the problem with a series of Tweets around 8 a.m. ET, noting that customers were seeing a delay in transactions posting to their accounts.

Citizens reported that the issue was affecting multiple institutions. However, the Plain Dealer contacted the corporate offices of other banks including U.S. Bank, Chase, and PNC, finding no reports of similar issues.

Around noon Citizens Bank Tweeted that the issue had been resolved.

Despite this, the company warned that processing of mobile and online banking would be slow while the system worked to catch up.

WPXI in Pittsburgh reported that customers began to see their direct deposits added to accounts around 11 a.m.

The bank tells WPXI that no fees will be incurred by customers as a result of the glitch.

It’s unclear if the bank will cover any fees assessed to customers’ other accounts as a result of online bill payment delays.

One customer tells The Plain Dealer she was supposed to have two credit card bills paid through Citizen’s online bill payment service.

“If those bills didn’t go out today, we could face late fees,” she said.

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