A processing issue occurred with a batch of bank transactions handled by the Clearing House, which runs the Automated Clearing House system that enables banks to transfer electronic payments to one another. Banks use the ACH system to deliver a variety of payments to its customers, including direct deposit wages and utility and mortgage payments.
The Clearing House said on Saturday that it was “working with the financial institutions who have customers that have been impacted” and that the problem “impacted less than 1% of the daily ACH volume in the United States.”
The business stated, “All other ACH transactions are processing as expected.”
CNN was informed by an industry source that the issue did not seem to be unique to any one bank.
According to Greg MacSweeney, a spokesman for The Clearing House, the incident was brought on by a “manual error” and is unrelated to a cybersecurity risk.
In a statement, MacSweeney stated, “TCH is working with impacted financial institutions on the matter.”
When the issue will be fixed has not been updated.
The Federal Reserve informed banks on Friday afternoon that an ACH “processing issue” was the root of the issue. According to the Fed, there was a “error” in a payment batch that caused a delay in payment processing.
Downdetector reports that on Friday morning, customers at Bank of America, Chase, US Bank, Truist, and Wells Fargo experienced problems. Some irate bank clients voiced their complaints about the delays in their deposits on social media.
“@BankofAmerica, where is my money and will you pay my today’s due bills?” One user on X, the former Twitter, wrote.
“Some deposits may be temporarily delayed due to an issue impacting multiple financial institutions,” Bank of America stated in a statement to clients.
The Bank of America statement stated, “Your accounts are secure, and your balance will be updated as soon as the deposit is processed. “You don’t have to do anything.”
Banks emphasised that consumer deposits are secure and that human error—rather than a hostile attack—introduced the problem. Many banks’ deposits were impacted by the unusual deposit delay, although it seemed like other financial systems were operating regularly.
The Federal Reserve Banks and the Electronic Payment Network run the ACH.
According to Fed figures, the ACH system handles over 74 million transactions per day, worth a total of almost $155 billion. ACH transactions totaled close to $38.7 trillion in 2022.