Queues form at Bank of Ireland cash points in Republic as customers think they can get 'free' money

Queues formed at Bank of Ireland cash points after customers were able to withdraw more than they had in their accounts Credit: Twitter: @ChrisRattigan1

Long queues formed at Bank of Ireland cash points in the Republic of Ireland after people were able to withdraw more money than was in their accounts.

Even if an account was empty, customers were able to withdraw 1,000 euros or transfer with same amount on the bank's app on Tuesday.

It's reported at one point, gardai had to intervene at some cash machines.

Bank of Ireland apologised for the technical issue which it says has now been resolved.

The bank says any withdrawals or transfers will start to appear in customer's accounts on Wednesday.

It encouraged any customers who find themselves in financial difficulty as a result of the fault to get in touch.

Services in Northern Ireland were affected, but there were not the same issues at bank machines.

The bank said its app and and online services are working again and any transfers or withdrawals will appear in their accounts during the day.

It said there may be a slow down in services online as it works to "catch up" on transactions. It encouraged any customers who find themselves in financial difficulty as a result of the fault to get in touch.

An Garda Siochana said it was aware of an “unusual volume of activity” at some ATMs across the country.

In a statement on Wednesday, the bank said: “Yesterday a technical issue impacted a number of Bank of Ireland’s services.

“Our teams restored these services overnight and all services are available to customers this morning. Overnight payments to accounts may appear throughout the day.

“We are aware that the technical issue meant some customers were able to withdraw or transfer funds above their normal limits.

“These transfers and withdrawals will be applied to customers’ accounts today. We urge any customer who may find themselves in financial difficulty due to overdrawing on their account to contact us.

“We sincerely apologise for the disruption this outage caused – we know we fell far below the standards our customers expect from us.”

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