Bank of Ireland says its ATMs are working normally this morning after suffering serious technical difficulties yesterday.
The bank says it will refund fees to customers who inadvertently overdrew their accounts when its systems were experiencing technical difficulties, and will also allow an interest-free period for the amount involved.
However, customers who withdrew more than was in their account will have to repay the money, the bank confirmed.
Long queues formed at many of the bank's ATMs yesterday evening as word spread that it was possible to overdraw accounts. Meanwhile, customer whose accounts were in funds experienced difficulties withdrawing all the funds they wanted.
Today, the bank confirmed that its systems experienced "connectivity issues between some customer systems" due to a technical issue. This resulted in restrictions in Laser and ATM services and limited service on phone and online banking systems.
In a statement, the bank sought to reassure customers that its core processing systems operated normally during the problems, and the processing of direct debits, standing orders and international payments was not affected.
It said most customers who used ATMs or bought items using Laser were accommodated but apologised to anyone who had a transaction declined or received less cash they required.
"We can confirm that a small minority of customers withdrew funds in excess of their available balance which has created an unauthorised overdraft position for them for which they are liable."
The Consumers' Association of Ireland said customers would have to repay any funds they had overdrawn but called on the bank not to impose fees and interest on these transactions.
