Several U.S. banks experienced delays in deposits on Friday due to an error in a payment processing network, according to the Federal Reserve.
The clearinghouse that operates the Automated Clearing House system, which allows banks to send electronic payments to one another, has encountered a processing error in a number of bank transactions. Banks send everything through the ACH system, from direct deposited paychecks to customer bill payments for mortgages and utility bills.
The Clearing House told CNN on Saturday that the issue “affected less than 1% of daily ACH volume in the United States” and that it was “working with the financial institutions whose customers were affected.”
“All other ACH transactions are processing as expected,” the company said.
An industry source had told CNN that the problem did not appear to be a bank-specific problem.
Greg MacSweeney, a spokesman for The Clearing House, said Friday the problem was caused by a “manual error” and was not related to a cybersecurity issue.
“TCH is working with the affected financial institutions on this matter,” MacSweeney said in a statement.
There is no update on when the issue will be resolved.
The Federal Reserve alerted banks Friday afternoon that the problem was caused by a “processing issue” with ACH. The Fed had said an “error” in a batch of payments delayed payment processing.
Customers at Bank of America, Chase, US Bank, Truist and Wells Fargo reported problems Friday morning, according to Downdetector. Some frustrated bank customers took to social media to complain about deposit delays.
“@BankofAmerica where is my money and will you pay my bills due today?” wrotea user on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In a note to customers, Bank of America said: “Some deposits may be temporarily delayed due to an issue affecting multiple financial institutions.”
“Your accounts will remain secure and your balance will be updated once deposits are received,” Bank of America said in the statement. “You do not have to do anything.”
The banks stressed that customer deposits remain safe and the error was caused by human error and not a malicious attack. Although the rare deposit delay affected deposits at many banks, other banking systems appeared to be operating normally.
The ACH is operated by the Federal Reserve Banks and the Electronic Payment Network.
The ACH system processes about 74 million transactions daily, totaling nearly $155 billion, Fed data shows. In all of 2022, there were nearly $38.7 trillion in ACH transactions.
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