Brief ATM glitch gives Bank of Ireland clients ‘free money’

People in Ireland were seeing green when a glitch enabled customers of one of the country’s biggest banks to overdraw cash from ATMs, though the problem was fixed within a few hours.

They could withdraw up to 1,000 euros, or about $1,090, over their account balances from Bank of Ireland cash machines, the Irish Times reported. The same went for the bank’s website and app.

Clients with little to no funds in their accounts could reportedly overdraw, too.

Social media posts quickly led to flocks of Bank of Ireland customers rushing to the machines to collect the cash, with police officers deployed in some areas to make sure the situation didn’t get out of control.

Videos posted online showed what appeared to be some using the new funds to quickly purchase new TVs and other goods.

“I don’t know if I’ll get away with it, but it’s worth a shot,” one man who was waiting in line told the Irish Times, explaining that he heard about the opportunity online.

As the beleaguered bank caught wind of the news, it sent out several tweets attempting to quell the herd of money-hungry ATM-goers.

“We are working on a technical issue that is impacting a number of our services including our mobile app and 365Online,” the bank stated.

“We would like to remind customers if transferring/withdrawing funds-including over normal limits-this money will be debited from their account,” it added.

By Wednesday morning, the bank reported that the glitch had been fixed, and the app and website were back to functioning properly.

Some experts have suggested the glitch was possibly due to an outdated IT system that the bank uses. In 2021, Ireland’s central bank fined the Bank of Ireland 24.5 million euros for alleged IT failures which had plagued the company for over a decade.