Nov. 1 was pay day for many, but for many Capital One Bank customers expecting their paychecks, it was not.
Capital One experienced what it called a technical issue that impacted customer money movement Friday, including direct deposits and the ability for some customers to access accounts.
In an emailed statement to WTOP around 2 p.m. Friday, Capital One said it had resolved the problem.
“The technical issues impacting some of our customers have been resolved. Customers are not responsible for any fees associated with this issue. We encourage customers to reach out to us if they continue to experience any difficulties. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience,” the statement said.
Capital One did not say what caused the technical issue, or how many customers it actually affected.
Thousands of its customers took to the bank’s own customer service Twitter account to complain, many saying debit card purchases or automatic deductions were declined, and others referencing first-of-the-month mortgage or rent payments they were unable to make.
I travel out of town for work this morning and I cannot purchase a ticket. I’ve also received a penalty from a vendor that attempted to process a payment. Happy November 1st, amirite?!
— Quiet Madman (@Psycho_Chips) November 1, 2019
I can access my credit card and my auto loan accounts, but my checking account is literally gone. I can’t see it on the app or online. I have bills to pay, groceries to buy, and a car to gas up. Will capital one pay my late fees on a missed bill set to Auto deduct today?
— Tee Low (@Tee_Low_) November 1, 2019
@AskCapitalOne @CapitalOne my kids have the flu and I need to purchase their meds, yet I have zero access to my debit account. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.
— Jenny Wake (@WakeJenny) November 1, 2019
I got mortgage to pay and it has to be now, if you continue to have problems like this I’m out
— Peter Rymanowski (@PeterRymanowski) November 1, 2019
I’m missing all of my money! I have bills to pay and a baby to feed I can’t afford this! How long will things take to resolve? I’m planning on switching banks asap if things aren’t resolved quickly
— Genius ideas (@InventionShitty) November 1, 2019
According to a 2017 CareerBuilder survey, 4 out of 5 employed Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck.
Customers also complained about long holds on Capital One’s customer service phone lines that ended in disconnects.
The customer banking account access problem, which lasted several hours, comes three months after Capital One disclosed that its systems had been hacked, exposing personal information from more than 100 million of its credit card customers, or of consumers and businesses who had applied for a Capital One credit card.
USA Today labeled that incident as one of the 10 largest data breaches ever.
Capital One has many banking customers in the D.C. region. It has $32.5 billion in D.C.-area customer deposits, according to the Washington Business Journal, and accounts for 12.7% of the local retail banking market share.
