On Thursday morning, many Capital One customers across the United States faced serious difficulties accessing their accounts. The issue, caused by a technical failure related to a third-party vendor, led to widespread frustration as users struggled to complete everyday banking transactions.
What Happened?
Starting around 6 a.m. ET, reports of the outage began flooding in from anxious Capital One users. Thousands of customers indicated that they had issues with their accounts, including problems with direct deposits and making payments. Around that time, complaints began to stack up on Downdetector, a website that tracks service outages, peaking at over 3,300 reports of problems within just a few hours.
Who Caused the Mess?
The outage was linked to a third-party vendor, Fidelity Information Services, or FIS, which experienced a local power failure at one of its data centers. This power failure affected Capital One’s ability to process transactions smoothly, impacting not just consumer accounts, but also small businesses and commercial accounts connected to Capital One.
Customer Reactions
Customers took to social media to express their worries, with many highlighting the timing of the outage as particularly concerning. With the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day federal holiday, customers feared that their payments could be delayed or missed entirely. Some customers voiced their frustration about potential late fees accrued as a result of these banking problems.
Capital One Responds
In an effort to address the concerns raised by customers, Capital One issued a statement acknowledging the outage and its impact on their services. The company noted that they were working with FIS to fix the issue, aiming to restore services quickly. They also promised that once the systems were back up, they would process all delayed transactions as swiftly as possible.
Statistics on the Outage
- Over 2,000 complaints peaked on Downdetector as the issue unfolded.
- By early afternoon, users reported accumulating problems with deposits and account access.
- The outage was confirmed to be affecting a broad swath of Capital One’s client base, including consumer and business accounts.
The Bigger Picture
While the cause of the outage seems to be a technical issue with a vendor, this is not the first time Capital One has faced similar problems. Customers are left wondering how long it will take to fully resolve the issues and what steps the bank will take to ensure such outages do not occur in the future. Many are asking if they will receive any form of compensation for the inconvenience caused by the outage.