Thousands of Chase Bank Customers Panic as Transactions Multiplied by 100

Hundreds of thousands of people were shocked to see wildly incorrect spending alerts from Chase Bank today that were 100 times the amount they actually spent. The problem began between 12:30 PM and 2:30 PM (Central Time).

Like many Americans, I have my banking set up to send me alerts whenever I make a debit or credit card transaction over a certain amount I have mine set to anything over 10 cents. 

I did some shopping today, and everything seemed normal – for a while. At 12:22 PM, I made a debit card purchase of $36.49. Seconds later, tah-ding! A text alert to my phone. Cool. Five minutes later, a $5.94 transaction. Another ding to my phone. All was right.

But at 2:36 PM, I made a $6.85 purchase at a grocery store. My phone dinged, but I was busy with a shopping cart and getting home. However, when I got home I checked my text messages and was astounded to see that I'd just made a $685.00 purchase at that store! I checked my email, and it also reported a $685.00 purchase. Hold on, I thought, let me log on to my Chase Bank account.

The incorrect email alert

On the Chase website, the $6.85 purchase was correctly noted. All looked right. But just to be sure, I phone Chase Customer Service. The efficient lady who helped me explained that yes, the system was misplacing decimal points on alerts, making purchases appear to be 100 times their actual amounts. "It just happened," she said, "and they're working to fix it right now." 

"People must freaking out," I said.

"The call volume is very high right now," she chuckled.

I thanked her and was satisfied with the explanation. 

At 5:43 PM, Chase sent me an email that duplicated the previous, incorrect grocery purchase albeit with the correct amount of $6.85. 

I can only imagine the panic that many Chase customers must have felt when they received text alerts and/or email telling them they just spent 100 more than they actually did. I was lucky to be able to immediately check my account from my desktop computer. But think of all the Chase customers who were not able to do that, and stressing for hours.

The Chase website was correct

To Chase's credit, they did fix the issue quickly. But there might still be people out there who are fearing that this month's rent money just disappeared.

Woman at top: Image by rawpixel.com