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

Apple's New iPad Air 2: Slimmer, More Powerful

October 16, 2014 - Apple's iPad Air 2 tablet (also known as the iPad 6) looks familiar but has a thinner body than last year's iPad Air. Needless to say, Apple added new features and updated most of the others. And because size does matter, the iPad Air 2 is only 6.1mm thick, less than half the thickness of the original iPad. It's thin enough that Apple calls it the world's thinnest tablet.

iPad Air 2 from Apple (click to enlarge)

Nice price: Although it's got lots of improvements, the iPad Air 2 price is the same as its predecessor. "The iPad Air 2 starts at $500 for the 16GB version," writes reviewer Eric Limer at Gizmodo today, "the same price the original Air debuted at. Bigger storage sizes come in $100 increments up to 64GB, with an additional $130 premium for LTE versions. Meanwhile the original Air is getting $100 lopped off its price, and now starts at $400."

The Verge's Jacob Kastrenakes writes that the tablet will be offered in gold, silver, and gray beginning at $499 for a 16GB, Wi-Fi only model. Apple is also offering models with additional storage, selling 64GB for $599 and 128GB for $699. A version of the tablet with LTE is also available, with each model being sold at a $130 premium to the Wi-Fi version."

Check out the video review from Mashable, below. More after the video..... 



The iPad Air 2 has an exciting new camera, too. It's now got an 8 megapixel sensor with 1.12 micron pixels and a lens with an f2.4 aperture, reports The Verge.  "It's able to record 1080p video and slow-motion video, camera panoramas, take photos in burst mode or time lapse mode — all of which have been previously introduced on iPhones. The front camera has a new sensor too and a larger aperture of f2.2."

Another exciting new feature: The touch ID fingerprint sensor. It seems that it will allow authentication of your identity only for online purchasing and cannot be used in brick-and-mortar stores. It can also be used to lock your iPad Air 2, sign in to secure apps, approve purchases from iTunes, iBooks, and the App Store, and more.

Pre-orders for the iPad Air 2 begin tomorrow (October 17), and will begin shipping out next week.

Is The HP Computer Racist?

"The HP Webcam does not pick up negroes," says Desi, a black man who bought a new HP Mediasmart computer with facial recognition software. This allows a web camera to recognize a human face and follow that person. Trouble is, if your skin is too dark it seems to have trouble recognizing you. Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) would love this thing. In the video below, we see Desi and a white co-worker named Wanda as they demonstrate the facial recognition software on a new HP Mediasmart computer. It follows Wanda just fine, but Desi seems invisible to the machine. Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts * Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed