M&T Bank Mobile Banking Plunges Offline in Widespread Outage

Lead: M&T Bank’s mobile and online banking platforms experienced a significant outage on Friday morning, September 19, preventing over 2,000 customers across 13 East Coast states from accessing their accounts and receiving deposits.

Nut Graf: The disruption, first reported around 9 a.m. ET via DownDetector, halted routine banking activities-login, balance checks and direct deposits-highlighting the vulnerability of digital-only channels and underscoring the bank’s reliance on timely resolution to maintain customer trust.

What Happened

  • Reports of login failures and missing direct deposits surfaced at 9 a.m., with outages peaking at 2,138 incidents shortly thereafter.
  • Users opening the M&T Bank mobile app encountered error messages citing unavailable services, while some were unable to complete scheduled transfers.
  • M&T’s official X account confirmed “intermittent issues impacting certain platforms, including Mobile” at 2 p.m. ET and pledged a swift fix.

Impact on Customers

  • More than 2,000 outage reports were logged within the first hour, according to DownDetector’s real-time monitoring.
  • Several customers complained on social media about missing direct deposits, raising concerns over bill payments and payroll processing.
  • Businesses relying on immediate fund access faced delays in payroll and vendor payments, compounding frustration among small merchants.

Bank’s Response and Resolution Efforts

  • M&T Bank’s technology team mobilized immediately, working to restore full service and minimize customer inconvenience.
  • A spokesperson reiterated the bank’s apology and thanked customers for their patience, advising affected users to try online banking via web browser as a temporary workaround.
  • By mid-afternoon, outage reports had fallen to roughly 300 incidents, suggesting progress toward restoring normal operations.

Broader Context

M&T Bank, with a footprint spanning New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and neighboring states, has seen rapid digital adoption in recent years. This outage echoes similar disruptions at peer institutions, fueling debate over infrastructure resilience and backup protocols in the banking sector.

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