Unknown outage leaving Oklahomans with frozen payments, transactions and direct deposits

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Bank Of Oklahoma customers say they've been left in the dark for days after a major outage impacted one of BOK's service providers in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Steve Carter is a customer with BOK, saying he called Wednesday after noticing his debit card declining at a gas station.

"I immediately called the Express My 800 number and only to find out that they were having some kind of a technical issue, that there was no one to talk to. They just said call back later," Carter said.

The financial institution took to Facebook, saying the outage is impacting 26 other banks.

Carter said he's been with BOK for more than 30 years, never experiencing anything like this.

"Unless you could get your hands on cash at a local bank, it certainly puts people in a bad situation," Carter said.

Carter also said he considered going to his local branch, closing his accounts and asking for cash, but decided not to.

We reached out to Bank Of Oklahoma Friday for an update on the outage. They sent a statement to News 4:

Bank of Oklahoma digital platforms are fully back online. Client balances should be displaying correctly although some transactions, including some direct deposits, are lagging as processing occurs. We understand this has inconvenienced our clients and our team has been working diligently to get everything caught up.

Clients can be assured that we will reimburse all fees resulting from this outage. Debit cards should be working now but there may still be a few issues related to the delay in direct deposit processing. If clients have concerns, our ExpressBank customer service center is available but call times may be long due to the volume of inquiries coming in.

Megan Ryan, SVP, Director of Content Strategy

Despite all digital platforms being back online, customers say they're frustrated with the lack of communication.

"The first time I called, I was on hold for about 35 minutes. Unfortunately, when disconnected, I called back. I waited for 45 to 50 minutes, and I did get ahold of somebody live at their corporate call center who basically shared with me the same information I was getting out of my local branch," said Carter.

Going forward, Carter said he won't always depend on his debit card for daily purchases.

Carter said, "People just don't use cash much anymore. We all use our bank cards. And and I think it's probably a good reminder to carry some cash with you, you know, and in other situations that might arise."

News 4 attempted to ask the corporate office what caused the outage but they did not answer the question.

News 4 also checked back with Steve later Friday afternoon and his direct deposit did post to his account.