Scotiabank outage leaves customers unpaid, thousands complain

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Thousands of Canadians were left unpaid on payday after a “technical issue” caused a massive outage at Scotiabank, but the issue has now been resolved.

Downdetector.com, a site that tracks online outages, received over 5,000 reports of disruptions from the financial institution’s users on early Friday.

Downdetector.com

In a statement posted to X in the morning, Scotiabank said it was experiencing a technical issue that prevented inbound payments like direct deposits and cheque deposits from being applied to people’s accounts.

“We are actively working to resolve this as soon as possible and apologize for any inconvenience,” it reads.

We are currently experiencing a technical issue where some of our clients’ inbound payments, including direct deposits and cheque deposits, are not being applied to their accounts. We are actively working to resolve this as soon as possible and apologize for any inconvenience.

— Scotiabank Helps (@ScotiabankHelps) July 26, 2024

By 2 pm ET, the bank said it was “deeply sorry” for the error and had resolved the problem.

“Clients will start to see their payments posted to their accounts. Any fees incurred as a result of this issue will be reimbursed,” Scotiabank noted.

We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience the earlier technical issue has had on our clients, and sincerely appreciate their patience as we worked through this.

We have resolved the technical issue impacting our clients’ inbound payments. Clients will start to see their payments…

— Scotiabank Helps (@ScotiabankHelps) July 26, 2024

Before the issue was taken care of, those affected expressed their frustrations online.

“Fix this sh*t already [Scotiabank]. F**k, they should double everyone’s paycheque for f**ksakes,” reads one angry customer.

Fix this shit already @scotiabank fuck they should double everyone’s pay check for fucksakes #scotiabank pic.twitter.com/gdQLEqn3XF

— vancouverexplore (@vanexplore1) July 26, 2024

“Banks should be fined when they mess up… yet, they are still going to collect our fees. Of all the days of the week to f**k up,” posted another.

Banks should be fined when they mess up like @scotiabank in half the country right now their customers are seeing that they didn’t get paid. Yet they are still going to collect our fees. Of all the days of the week to fuck up

— Guy Brady (@Guybradyphoto) July 26, 2024

Hey @scotiabank @ScotiabankHelps
A group of my colleagues and I didn’t get paid overnight because there is a supposed Scotia outage that has been ongoing since yesterday.
I don’t see this being acknowledged on your social media or website at all.
What is being done to fix this?

— Elisabeth Robillard (@EKRobillard) July 26, 2024

And in classic internet fashion, Canadians used memes to cope with their outstanding pay cheques.

Me: woohoo payday!

Scotiabank: pic.twitter.com/HSj9s4pX2t

— notorious B.R.E (@BCGomes11) July 26, 2024

Scotiabank IT rn pic.twitter.com/MGXbg5LGdE

— 🚷 (@trellyy) July 26, 2024

This isn’t the only nationwide outage that has happened recently.

Last week, a global IT outage disrupted services around the world, including banking and travel.

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