NCNB Hardware Failure Disrupts Payroll Deposits at 90 Firms
A computer hardware glitch prevented NCNB National Bank last week from making automatic payroll deposits to employees of about 90 companies, according to a bank official.
Ellison Clary, a spokesman for the Charlotte, N.C.-based unit of NCNB Corp., said the problem surfaced Wednesday in the bank's main data center. Bank officials said they believed they had solved the problem by switching to paper-based transactions. The disruption mainly affected direct-deposit accounts of companies based in the Carolinas.
However, "we found out on Friday that that was not working as well as we thought it would," Mr. Clary said. The problem was corrected that day, he said, but by then, it was too late to bring accounts up to date and to make funds available by the close of business to employees of the affected companies.
Money Was Wired to Employees
NCNB, which makes one million direct-deposit transactions a month, said it had made provisions with its customers and with Western Union Corp. to let the bank wire the affected employees at least part of their pay to tide them over the weekend.
Mr. Clary said the bank got 14 requests for emergency money.
