Frustrated Wells Fargo customers have trouble with online banking, mobile app

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - Wells Fargo says it is still working to restore some banking services after a widespread outage Thursday.

The day brought confusion and frustration for many Wells Fargo customers across the country after most banking services were halted for most of the day, including online banking, the mobile banking app, and some ATMs.

The San Francisco-based company experienced widespread technical problems, blaming the "system issues due to a power shutdown at one of our facilities, initiated after smoke was detected following routine maintenance."

The bank later went on to clarify, saying it was "a contained issue affecting one of our facilities, and not due to any cybersecurity event."

Wells Fargo repeatedly apologized via Twitter to its customers, some who threatened to take their business elsewhere.

"They said it's a nationwide problem and they don't know when the computer's going to be up so they said call the (800) number which I've been trying all morning and I don't know what else to do," said customer Lee Nguyen.

When the San Jose software engineer tried to open the Wells Fargo mobile banking app, instead of seeing his account balance Nguyen saw a "We're Sorry" message and was unable to login.

Concerned about paying his employees Friday, Nguyen went to the branch on First Street in San Jose but was also unable to get checks.

"It's very inconvenient and it's scary. I mean, we have technology to help us run our daily lives and something like this happens, especially in financing. And it's been really frustrating," said Nguyen.

He wasn't the only one seeing red.

Others who couldn't pay bills online were also surprised to find they couldn't withdraw money from the ATM.

"I'm kind of pissed right now because I'm supposed to pay for my car today and I'm going to get charged a late fee. It sucks," said Zainal Ali of Hayward.

The technical problem first came to light Thursday morning. By noon, customers were realizing in-person services were also limited.

"I went to the teller, they said I can't do anything with the tellers," said customer David Rosas.

The Willow Glen branch in San Jose posted signs, warning customers transactions may be delayed because of the "unexpected service disruption" and warned customers that several ATMs weren't working.

All while at the same time, other customers were able to get cash from some machines without any problems.

Wells Fargo says it will reverse any of its own fees as a result of the technical problems.

UPDATES: 

• Wells Fargo ATM services have been restored and are available for customer use.
• Mobile and Online Banking systems are operational, with the exception of some features, such as consumer credit card and mortgage balances, that we are in the process of restoring.
• Customers can use Wells Fargo credit and debit cards for purchases.
• Wells Fargo bank branches are operational.
• Our contact center systems are restored, but customers may experience longer than usual delays contacting Wells Fargo’s Phone Bank.