A bank error has caused chaotic scenes at ATMs in Ireland. Even cash-strapped bank customers suddenly had an extra 1,000 euros in their account – and tried to withdraw the money as quickly as possible.
Many are familiar with the “bank error in your favor” from Monopoly. But also in real life financial institutes happen again and again. In Ireland, a widespread glitch at the Bank of Ireland caused great excitement among customers. Long queues formed in front of ATMs on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning – because customers wanted to withdraw money they didn’t even have.
What happened? As a result of a technical glitch, many Bank of Ireland customers were suddenly shown an extra 1,000 euros in their accounts on Tuesday, as reported by the Irish Times. The news of the unexpected windfall spread like wildfire – and many simply tried to withdraw the money. “I don’t know if I can get away with it, but it’s worth a try,” the Irish Times quoted a man queuing at a Dublin ATM as representative.
Customers could withdraw hundreds of euros
In fact, the money could be withdrawn with a trick up to a limit of 500 or even 1000 euros. To do this, customers only had to transfer the money that the bank had mistakenly credited to another account and march to the nearest ATM to have it withdrawn. Images of ATM queues across the country circulated on social media. In some places, the police were forced to bring order to the chaos. Customers reported that some machines were completely emptied.
However, customers are not allowed to keep the money. Because, according to Bank of Ireland, it is not a generous gift, but a technical glitch. “We sincerely apologize for the disruption this outage caused – we know it fell well below the standards that our customers have come to expect from us,” the bank wrote on Wednesday morning. The problem has now been resolved.
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As early as Tuesday evening, the bank warned its customers about exceeding the limits for withdrawing money. Any withdrawals would be debited from the account. “We recognize that customers may not be able to check their account balance, but they should not withdraw if there is a risk of overdraft.”
The Irish Times speaks of a great embarrassment for the bank, which has been struggling with technical problems in recent weeks. The paper writes that identifying customers who have withdrawn money that they don’t even have should be easier for the bank than repairing the damage to its image.
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Source: Stern
