Wells Fargo Extends Hours As Outage Frustrates Customers For 2nd Day

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF / AP) – Wells Fargo bank on Friday was attempting to recover from a massive outage that impacted online banking, mobile apps and ATMs, but many customers still reported issues for a second day.

The bank announced Friday that "many" branches would extend hours on Friday and Saturday to assist customers impacted by the outage.

Many branches will extend their hours by one hour Friday, February 8 (and Saturday, February 9, if normally open) to assist our customers.
— Wells Fargo (@WellsFargo) February 8, 2019

"While we restored operations throughout the day and continue to address customer concerns, our recovery from these issues was not as rapid as we or our customers would have expected," CEO Tim Sloan said in a statement. We will review the system issues in detail, and do all we can to ensure that this type of disruption doesn't happen again."

Wells apologized multiple times during the outage and said any fees that customers incur because of the outage would be reversed.

"We know this has created difficulty for our customers, and we are sorry to have let you down," the bank said in a tweet Friday morning.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. We know this has created difficulty for our customers, and we are sorry to have let you down. Please reach out if you have concerns or need help today, and ask for your understanding as our phone wait times may be longer than usual.
— Ask Wells Fargo (@Ask_WellsFargo) February 8, 2019

Wells customers took to social media describing a host of issues Friday, from being unable to access online banking, to direct deposits not posting to accounts.

Alright @WellsFargo once your "contained issue" is resolved I will be moving every account I have at Wells Fargo elsewhere. A mason jar in the backyard seems like a much better option at this time. #DontFWithMyMoney
— Tracy Erickson (@ILoveMyRicky10) February 8, 2019

When will you reply to customers? We've been trying to get ahold of your for more than 28.5 hours via twitter, email, and phone. You have our money. Locked it away from us. And won't reply at all. This sounds like you are up to your very shady practices again.
— Brad Geddes (@bgtheory) February 8, 2019

The bank said Friday transactions, such as balances and deposits, that were not visible through online banking or ATMs on Thursday and early Friday were processed normally. Delays may continue in mobile and online banking as customers check their balances.

Business news network CNBC reported that the incident happened at a data center in Shoreview, Minnesota around 5 a.m. CST Thursday and was under control starting at 9 a.m. Wells Fargo did not comment on the data center's location or the possible source of the smoke at the facility.