Customers are still experiencing problems after bank deposit delays were caused by a processing error last week. While the issue was unrelated to bank failures that plagued the spring, this comes at the end of a year when many wondered if their bank deposits are safe, adding to anxieties.
The Automated Clearing House (ACH), which is operated by the Federal Reserve Banks and the Electronic Payment Network, said there was a processing error on November 2, leading many direct deposits that were supposed to post on November 1, 2 or 3 to be delayed.
ACH said the error was resolved, but many customers were still experiencing issues receiving their deposits at the start of this week, according to CNN Business. Private-sector ACH operator The Clearing House (TCH) told CNN it is working with financial institutions and the Federal Reserve to “resolve this issue as quickly as possible,” and an industry source added that the financial institutions are “at the mercy of the originating bank to resend payment files.”
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Regulators are monitoring the situation closely.
“The CFPB is aware of the issue and monitoring how institutions are responding,” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said in a statement to Kiplinger. “This disruption underscores the importance of the nation’s payments infrastructure. Consumers affected by this processing error should not be penalized, whether by overdraft fees, late fees, or other penalties.”
Affected financial institutions include Bank of America, Chase., US Bank, Truist and Wells Fargo, according to Downdetector.
What happened with bank deposit delays?
On November 2, a TCH processing error sent some ACH payment instructions to financial institutions with the account number and names of customers masked, TCH said in an open letter to financial institutions and their customers. Since financial institutions need that information to process payments and post them to customer accounts, the payments were delayed.
“While this issue impacted a very small percentage of the daily ACH volume processed on that date, we know that for those affected consumers and businesses the impact is meaningful,” TCH said. “Many of the delayed payments have already been posted, and we will continue working with financial institutions to ensure the remaining transactions are processed.”
If you’ve been affected by a delay in receiving deposits, you should monitor your account and watch for errant fees, such as overdraft fees, Bruce McClary, a spokesperson for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, told CNN in another report. If a delayed deposit caused you to miss a payment or caused overdraft charges, you’ll want documentation of the delay to share with the intended recipient so that you can request a refund for any fees or penalties.
If your issues are not resolved in a timely manner by your financial institution, the CFPB advises that you submit a complaint to its website.
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