The Federal Reserve suffered a widespread disruption in multiple payment services Wednesday, including a system that banks and businesses rely on to zip trillions of dollars around the financial system each day.
After experiencing problems for several hours, the crucial payment system, known as Fedwire, resumed normal operations shortly before 3 p.m. ET, according to the Fed’s website
.Other Fed services are still down, however.In a statement, the Fed blamed an “operational error” and said it is working to restore services and communicate with customers.
MORE…
The electronic payment system used to process transactions like mortgages crashed today, causing chaos in the banking sector.Due to the widespread outage, banks and other financial institutions like credit unions and money transfer companies were unable to send or receive wire transfers.
The Federal Reserve said it was investigating the disruption to multiple services, including the Fedwire funds transfer system that allows financial institutions to electronically transfer funds between more than 9,000 American financing institutions.
The Fed’s automated clearing house (ACH) system, which is one of the systems down, handles direct deposits of payroll, Social Security, and income tax refunds as well as auto payments for mortgages and utility bills.
