Posted to Crown Heights News on

Apple Bank Denies Customers Access to their Money

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — It has been three days since any Apple Bank customer has been able to log in to their online banking, make deposits, or pay their bills, leaving hundreds of Crown Heights customers at a loss.

Sources at the bank told CrownHeights.info that the reason is due to the banks computer data center, which is located in Scarsdale New York, has been offline since the weekend storm which knocked out power to the area, and has yet to be restored. The outage is affecting the banks 51 branches statewide.

Apple bank customers were greeted with a message on their website saying “Emergency Notice: Due to severe weather in the New York area, telephone and electric power has been disrupted. As a result Apple Bank’s call center, telephone banking, and internet banking are temporarily out of service. All of the bank’s branches are open today.”

Although the Crown Heights Branch on Albany Avenue was open for business, customers were limited in withdrawals and all deposits are not being posted at this time. Customers seeking to withdraw money were limited to $500 a day.

Local merchants have been feeling the squeeze as well, not being able to pay their vendors, as well as customers were not able to give merchants checks as result of not being able to check their balances.

Local branch manager David Schwartz declined to comment, stating bank policy prohibited him from doing so, but expressed hope that the problems will be resolved by tomorrow, Wednesday.

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20 Comments

  • This Bank s a Dinosaur

    The convenience of this bank’s location belies the fact that their technology is about a century in the the past. Everyone who uses it needs to find another bank where you can use AB’s ATM w/out charge, but keep your account elsewhere for your own good.

  • Big Mess

    I wouldn’t blame the bank this time, it was hard to foresee such a thing, though they should learn from this that they need to have a back up system for next time. I was in Scarsdale this past Sunday and everything is an unbelievably big mess up there. Trees were down everywhere and most traffic lights were non-functional.

  • zalmen

    in todays world a fincial centers data center should have a quad reduntancy. which means if one systems fails it automatically jumps to next then next ect….apple banks data is old century..bank with chase or bank of america.

  • in the heights

    BH we left this bank a few months ago, they have the worst service of any bank around.

    We once deposited a check and even though it had cleared the issuing bank, apple bank didn’t release the money and bounced checks we wrote out against it. I spoke with the manager and asked him why he didn’t just look at the account and see that the check had cleared, he was cold as stone.

    Apple bank stank

  • Yakov Moshe

    Can’t there be a rock solid Lubavitch Savings and Loan Bank in Crown Heights? It would only be open to “card carying” (mosdos-giving in tzedukah) Lubavitchers. Balances must be paid in full each cycle but a certain percentage of each transaction would go to each Yid’s mosdos of choice. It wouldn’t even have a storefront, just an online presence, ATM’s, and phone support 9am-9pm Sun-Thurs. Chatslacha! יעקב משה קריימער

  • ERnest Alleva

    This is absurd that a bank has essentially been closed for three days – against FED olicy and that they have only one computer system with no back up…I am moving allmy personal AND business accounts to a bank – a real bank

  • ROTTEN APPLE

    THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN NEVER NEVER NEVER > THIS IS AN INDICATION OF THE BEGINING OF THE COLLAPSE OF THE ENTIRE SYSTEM>

  • Noah

    … and that’s why there’s a concept called redundancy! How can a bank with 51 branches have only 1 data center? How can they have no backup plan? It’s a good thing it’s only the power and not something destructive like a fire — then everyone’s balances would have been lost in the smoke. Their CTO should be fired.

  • awacs

    Down for three, four days? Sounds like a Third World Country.

    New York, you say? Couldn’t be. It would be fixed within hours.

    Oh, it’s *Apple* Bank …

  • ben

    I have said it in the past and I will say it again: APPLE BANK=COPYING REAL BANKS!

    I told you so…

  • pathetic bank

    i never liked apple bank from the second i opened my account. i closed it shortly after because of the horrible service, no 24 hr. call service (only till 5 pm-what about all the working people)…… I dont understand why people still bank there when we have bank of america so close by.

  • miriam

    i support apple bank because they are jewish and I rather give parnassa to a jewish bank than to a goyishe one

  • CHT

    How the two pathetic banks – the “strongest” bank and the “most convenient” bank which are Apple and TD Bank get customers? Because they are orei hamiklot for all the customers with hoivos in the big banks.

  • Roscoe

    If this is “One of America’s strongest banks” as their web page suggests, then America is in more trouble than we thought.

  • Hanni

    well, in light of what’s going on behind closed doors, that many seem to know nothing about, it would be wise not to place all our trust in banks, perhaps some honest frummies should take charge of property and open up a savings bank for our community. Furthermore, I suggest to everyone to change banks A.S.A.P.!

  • mr

    I have my direct deposit in apple bank and I went into my apple bank on b-way and 158th st and asked the manager how long she thought this problem will continue and she said (how should I know)
    my next paycheck is due to go in apple bank on march 23rdand that info she gave was pathetic

  • Yussi

    Yes, let’s all switch our accounts to Bank of America, oh wait, they took TARP money. Ok, let’s all switch to Citibank, oh wait, they took TARP money too. So let’s all switch to Chase, oh wait…