"Although the reports we have received particularly apply to Malmö and Gothenburg, we believe that the error occurred throughout the country," Claes Warrén, Communications Officer at Swedbank, said, as quoted by Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet.
Swedbank's problems began early Wednesday when customers were unable to withdraw money using MasterCard, get access to internet banking or make online purchases. The bank tried to tackle the glitch, but the solution backfired even worse, as the clientele went from not being able to withdraw a penny to having unlimited access to cash.
"An error in one of our databases occurred, namely the system we use for card transactions. It took a little longer to fix than we had initially hoped for," Claes Warrén explained.
"There has never been any question of a hacker attack, the whole thing was wholly our own fault," Claes Warrén said.
The bank would neither reveal how many withdrawals were made or how much money is to be paid back, suggesting it was a matter to be solved privately with its customers. Nevertheless, Swedbank has high hopes of getting the money back. All transactions get automatically registered in customers' accounts. Employing the Enforcement Authority to collect the money is also an option.
Swedbank is a Stockholm-based Nordic-Baltic group, which has 9.5 million retail customers, of which over four million are in Sweden.
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