Bank of Ireland customers furious after app and online banking both ...
Some employers have reported not being able to pay staff ahead of the weekend as customers of Bank of Ireland have been left frustrated after its app and online banking services stopped working.
BoI branches stayed open later this evening while the bank deals with the problem.
And the bank is opening 91 of its branches from 10am to 2pm on Saturday to assist customers.
In a statement this evening, the bank said: “We are extremely sorry that customers are continuing to experience difficulty in accessing Banking 365 and mobile banking services.
"We are continuing to work on this as a top priority. We have extended opening hours at as many branches as possible until 6pm this evening, and increased the number of colleagues available to serve customers over the phone.
"All other Bank of Ireland services are operating normally including our ATMs, debit and credit cards, and Business Online. We apologise again for this inconvenience, and will provide a further update as soon as possible.”
The bank apologised for the IT crash and said it was working hard to fix the issue.
But consumers were furious over the break-down in services, with some demanding the bank compensates them for being unable to use their app or online banking.
Customers of the bank took to social media to express frustration at the issue, and also complain about the bank’s communication strategy.
One customer said on Twitter: “The Bank of Ireland app has been down all morning and I expect on the last Friday of the month many customers are trying to log in and make transactions.”
Another asked: “I assume Bank of Ireland will be compensating people who cannot log in to make transactions today? Will BOI be professional about this or the usual amateurs?”
One person joked: “I have a good mind to move my extensive overdraft to Ulster Bank. Oh God! Oh wait!”
Customers have been advised to monitor official updates from the bank to find out when the issue is resolved.
In an interview with the ‘Sunday Independent’ last week Bank of Ireland chief executive Myles O’Grady said it was investing heavily in technology.
The bank will invest €1bn in the business over three years, particularly in technology, he said.
“Our investments in recent years have been in core systems, in data, robotics, cyber protection, much of which is unseen by customers but which definitely improves the resilience of our technology platform. We also have made very good progress with our customer facing technology.”
A failure to solve problems with its technology platforms between 2008 and 2015 led to a €24.5m fine being levied on the bank by the Central Bank in 2021.
The bank announced in March last year that it intends to hire 100 new technology staff.
This was on top of 130 technology hires in 2021.
