What happened with Bank of America? Zelle glitch and accounts' missing money issue sparks online memefest

Customers of Bank of America reportedly saw money disappearing from their accounts after they made payments via the transfer service Zelle, which led to a meme fest online.

On January 18, DownDetector, a site that keeps track of the statuses of other websites, noted that "user reports indicate problems at Bank of America." The first complaint was reported at 1.42 am on Wednesday, and overall, 66 percent of complaints indicated there were issues with "fund transfer."

The reports peaked at 8.43 pm on the same day, with the website registering 1,303 complaints against Bank of America.

However, as per Charlotte Observer, when customers logged into their online bank accounts, they received a notice stating their transactions are not delayed but missing.

“Zelle transactions made between January 14th and January 17th may be delayed in occurring and posting to accounts as requested. Transfers will be completed and will appear in your account activity and balances as soon as possible.”

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Twitter reactions on Bank of America's glitch

After Bank of America's customers saw their money disappearing from their accounts, they took to Twitter. Several users shared a scene from The Simpsons where customers can be seen yelling at the employees of the bank for money as they try to deviate from the topic.

Others just made fun of their own bank account amounts being so low that the bank and Zelle skipped their names from the glitch.

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Bank of America flashed a warning sign for its customers

According to ABC13, Bank of America has addressed the missing funds situation and put out a warning note on their app.

"Please note: Zelle transactions made between January 14 and January 17 may be delayed in occurring and posting to accounts as requested. Transfers will be completed and will appear in your account activity and balances as soon as possible. We apologize for any delays or inconvenience."

Zelle allows customers of participating U.S. banks to send money directly to one another without the need of any intermediary institutions. As an alternative to credit card transactions, which may take a few days to reach users' accounts and frequently require fees and bank transfers, Zelle transfers are popular due to their speed and cost-free nature.

According to TIME, the bank told the publication that the issue has been resolved and customers are getting their money back.

This is not the first time that the bank has been blasted off because of a glitch. In 2020, the bank accounts of certain customers showed balances as low as $0. At the time, the company stated that the glitch did not impact the customers' actual money.

“Some clients may currently see an inaccurate account balance in online or mobile banking. There is no impact to their accounts and their information remains secure.”

As for Zelle, the service doesn't offer any security for the payments made via their app, which means there's no way to turn things around if they go wrong.