Scotiabank outage leaves Canadian customers unpaid and thousands complain

Thousands of Canadians have been left unpaid on payday after a "technical issue" caused a massive outage at Scotiabank.

Downdetector.com, a site that tracks online outages, received over 5,000 reports of disruptions from the financial institution's users on Friday morning.

In a statement posted to X, Scotiabank said it's experiencing a technical issue that has prevented inbound payments like direct deposits and cheque deposits from being applied to people's accounts.

"We are actively working to resolve this as soon as possible and apologize for any inconvenience," it reads.

We are currently experiencing a technical issue where some of our clients’ inbound payments, including direct deposits and cheque deposits, are not being applied to their accounts. We are actively working to resolve this as soon as possible and apologize for any inconvenience.

— Scotiabank Helps (@ScotiabankHelps) July 26, 2024

Those affected have expressed their frustrations online.

"Fix this sh*t already [Scotiabank]. F**k they should double everyone's paycheque for f**ksakes," reads one angry customer.

Fix this shit already @scotiabank fuck they should double everyone’s pay check for fucksakes #scotiabank pic.twitter.com/gdQLEqn3XF

— vancouverexplore (@vanexplore1) July 26, 2024

"Banks should be fined when they mess up… yet, they are still going to collect our fees. Of all the days of the week to f**k up," posted another.

Banks should be fined when they mess up like @scotiabank in half the country right now their customers are seeing that they didn't get paid. Yet they are still going to collect our fees. Of all the days of the week to fuck up

— Guy Brady (@Guybradyphoto) July 26, 2024

And in classic internet fashion, Canadians are using memes to cope with their outstanding pay cheques.

Me: woohoo payday!

Scotiabank: pic.twitter.com/HSj9s4pX2t

— notorious B.R.E (@BCGomes11) July 26, 2024

This isn't the only nationwide outage that has happened recently. Last week, a global IT outage disrupted services around the world including banking and travel.