The chief executive of Bank of Ireland has apologised for a technology outage earlier week that led to significant disruption for customers and chaotic queues at some ATMs.
In his first comments since the issues emerged, Myles O'Grady said the bank’s failures fell well below the standards that its customers expect of it.
"Banking is based on reputation and trust," he said.
"We have damaged this with our customers and wider society. We are working to put things right."
The problems arose on Tuesday afternoon when the bank’s online and mobile banking services went offline.
When news began spreading that some customers had been able to transfer or withdraw more money than they actually had in their accounts, long queues began forming at some ATMs around the country, prompting intervention in some locations by gardaí.
But the bank later clarified that any money transferred or withdrawn would be debited from their account, even if not all of the cash was available in the first place.
Experts warned that this situation could lead to some customers' credit rating being damaged.
"Our priority was that all customers continued to have access to cash and could transact on their cards to manage their daily needs, in cash, online or in a shop," Mr O’Grady explained in today’s statement.
"The challenge in doing this during an outage is that customers couldn’t check their balance and some may now find themselves overdrawn.
"I encourage any customers who were impacted by this week’s incident to contact us so that we can work together to find an appropriate solution."
Myles O'Grady added that the bank has put a number of supports in place for customers impacted by the outage, including interest free temporary overdrafts.
"Contact centres and branches are here to help customers, including a dedicated team for those impacted by the outage," he said.
He also said that the bank's focus is on restoring services, ensuring the stability of systems and helping customers.
"But, we know we need to do better in future," he stated.
"We continue to invest in our technology to ensure customers have the very best banking services."
His apology came as the bank acknowledged that some customers who lodged money in branches and ATMs yesterday have not yet seen the funds land in their accounts.
The bank said the lodgements are being processed and will appear in customers' accounts overnight.
Some of the customers have taken to social media to vent their frustration at the situation.
On X, the app formerly known as Twitter, one said they had made a cash lodgement in the branch yesterday, but the balance has not updated on the app, even though it was updated on the paper receipt they received.
"My money still hasn’t reappeared in my account. Really not acceptable!! What re people do over the weekend for money if this problem isn’t resolved," another wrote.
While another posted: "I put money into my account yesterday. The money was there and the transaction showed up, but both were gone this morning, my money disappeared, and I want it back."
A spokesperson for the bank confirmed that the issue was connected to the fallout from the disruption to some of its IT services earlier this week.
"If customers have any specific queries they can contact us on 0818 365 365 or visit a branch," the bank said in a statement.
"The mobile app and digital banking are operating normally today. We will also open our contact centres until 8pm tonight and from 10am – 4pm tomorrow to support customers. We sincerely apologise to customers for the disruption this week."
Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has asked the Central Bank to establish a full account of what happened and why, and what will be done to prevent a repeat.
Speaking in Cork today, he said it is vital that people have "uninterrupted access to banking services".
He said there have been a number of incidents in recent years with system errors and outages.
The minister added that Bank of Ireland will have to deal with the fall out of any transactions where funding was taken from accounts that was not there, saying that is an operational issue of the bank.
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Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, the minister also said that his focus is on "the robustness" of what he called "customer facing financial service providers".
Mr McGrath also said that he is not certain what caused the issue at Bank of Ireland during the week and said he has asked his own officials to liaise with the Central Bank
He said the Central Bank has been in active contact with Bank of Ireland to identify the root cause of what happened and to reassure themselves about the adequacy of the steps that have been taken to address the issue and to make sure that it does not happen again.
"My focus is on the robustness of the systems of customer facing financial service providers to make sure that they’re fully fit for purpose and where issues arise that we learn why they arose and how they were fixed," Minister McGrath said.
"This was a serious development and clearly it shouldn’t have happened. I want to be satisfied overall that these issues are being properly dealt with and that we understand why they happened and that we ensure the necessary fixes," he added.
Mr McGrath also defended the presence of some gardaí at a number of Bank of Ireland ATMs.
"That was an operational decision for An Garda Síochána. The decisions were made at a local level," he stated.
"Their first priority is to ensure that public order is maintained," he added.
