Citibank, used by 200 million Americans, has been struck by a nationwide outage. The bank’s website shows an error message: ‘We’ve encountered an issue and are working to fix the issue.’

According to the Daily Mail, the incident, which began early in the morning, disrupted online banking platforms, mobile apps, and even some in-branch services.

Reports began to surface on social media around 7:00 AM ET, with users expressing frustration over failed login attempts, missing balances, and transaction delays.

Downdetector, a service that tracks website and app outages, showed a sharp spike in user-reported problems beginning around that time, peaking just before noon.

The bank in question, whose name has not yet been officially confirmed by regulators but is widely believed to be one of the nation’s top five institutions, issued a brief statement via X (formerly Twitter):

“We’re aware of a system-wide issue affecting access to some accounts. Our teams are working urgently to restore all services. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.”

Some customers reported that ATMs were still functional, but others noted discrepancies in their displayed balances. Mobile banking users were met with generic error messages or blank screens.

By mid-afternoon, online forums and financial help groups had filled with concerned users sharing screenshots and voicing fears about missing funds.

Cybersecurity experts have not confirmed whether a technical failure caused the outage, a systems update gone wrong, or a cyberattack.

However, early indications point toward a backend infrastructure issue, possibly tied to a recent upgrade to the bank’s digital systems.

Consumer advocacy groups are urging the bank to provide clearer communication and compensation for affected users.

“Access to funds is not a luxury—it’s a necessity,” said Jennifer Ramirez, spokesperson for the Financial Rights Coalition. “We expect transparency and accountability.”

The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) have acknowledged awareness of the situation but have not issued any formal statements as of this writing.

As of 6:00 PM ET, the bank reported “partial restoration” of services, with full recovery expected by the end of the day. Customers are still advised to monitor their accounts closely and avoid initiating major transactions until systems are confirmed stable.

This incident raises renewed questions about the resilience of the U.S. banking infrastructure, especially as more consumers rely solely on digital channels for financial access.

Analysts suggest that banks may need to increase investment in disaster recovery and cloud reliability solutions to prevent similar events in the future.