Updated, 13.36
BANK OF IRELAND customers are effectively unable to access their bank accounts this lunchtime, after a major technical glitch caused the bank’s online and telephone services to collapse, and left banks unable to dispense cash.
A bank spokesperson said that the bank had been struck by “unforeseen technical difficulties” that had meant the bank was unable to access the current cash balances for any account holders – effectively meaning that their accounts had been frozen.
As a result, while all electronic banking services were pulled, even cash withdrawals were unavailable, and banks’ ability to offer most transactions had been struck.
The spokesperson said the glitch was “a system issue”, and said the bank “apologised sincerely for any inconvenience caused.”
While the bank hoped that the problem would be resolved quickly, the spokesperson was unable to promise that the problems would be rectified before the end of the day.
The glitch has coincided with a co-ordinated international attempt led by former footballer Eric Cantona to stage a “run” on European banks.
Update: Bank of Ireland has released an official statement:
Bank of Ireland confirms that an unforeseen technical issue has impacted some of our operating systems this morning and our telephone and online banking services are currently unavailable. All branches are open and operating as normal but with a temporary restricted cash service. All ATMs are operating normally but with a restricted cash service for Bank of Ireland cardholders. Some customers may be unable to conduct point-of-sale transactions but Bank of Ireland credit card transactions are unaffected.
We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience they are experiencing and wish to assure them that we are working with our IT partners to ensure that all services are reinstated as a priority.
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