Panic after Bank of America customers see zero balance in their accounts. Here's what happened

Thousands of Bank of America customers had difficulty accessing their online accounts Wednesday afternoon as the bank experienced a widespread outage. Customers took to social media to report issues, saying they were unable to view their account balances. Even more worrying, some users who managed to access their accounts found their balance showing as $0, causing widespread alarm and concern.

On Downdetector, an outage tracking platform, reports of problems began to increase around 12:45 p.m. ET. According to Downdetector's outage map, complaints about the problem poured in from major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, Phoenix, Houston and Chicago

Affected customers received error messages such as “Accounts temporarily unavailable” or “Some accounts and funds are temporarily unavailable.” Many encountered a “connection error” message when trying to log in to the banking app. The message stated that “your request could not be completed” and asked the user to “try again later.”

Customers affected by Bank of America's failure flocked to social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit to share their experiences and get confirmation that others had faced similar issues. Frustrated customers also expressed difficulty reaching Bank of America customer service, citing long wait times, unsuccessful attempts to contact representatives and automated messages with no resolution.

@BankofAmerica What's wrong???? Why doesn't anyone talk about their account having a zero balance!!!! pic.twitter.com/09Z3jsOMdg

– Skeptical Optimist (@MiiSSMaryy) October 2, 2024

Hey Bank of America…GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK!
I have to buy food and pay bills pic.twitter.com/MVncXwdqPA

— Elihu Who (@ElihuWho) October 2, 2024

I'm having a heart attack this morning, thanks @BankofAmerica – You REALLY need to deal with this pic.twitter.com/jXQU1M2s19

– Jessica (Pixel) (@GermaricanMix) October 2, 2024

In a statement about this CNNBank of America acknowledged that “some customers today are experiencing problems accessing their account and balance information.”

“These issues are being addressed and have been largely resolved.” “We apologize for any inconvenience caused,” the bank added.

Despite the bank's call for a solution, many customers continued to report problems, and some were even denied entry to physical Bank of America locations.