It will certainly be argued that anyone who can wait for a stimulus payment in the form of a check, doesn’t need the money. While check disbursement of stimulus payments is (somewhat) surprisingly on schedule to begin next week, most who need the money now, have opted for Stimulus checks payment via direct deposit, which has seen millions receive their monies beginning early this morning.
Bank sites down as people receive direct deposit of stimulus check
The problem with this massive distribution was to be expected. Bank sites all over the nation are crashing/going down. Tens of millions of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. This was the case well before the specter of the coronavirus, became the (oh shit) coronavirus and millions were told to begin sheltering in place and subject to varying degrees of social distancing. Their local bar/restaurant closing temporarily or, for many, permanently. For many, these closures meant no source of income and the thinking behind the stimulus payments and the legislation that made them real.
While the Great Depression saw millions running to the banks to withdraw their cash to hide under their mattresses, internet banking has changed this. Hundreds of local banks and even a number of “chain banks” across the nation are finding themselves unable to cope with first curiosity, and then the longer stay that is bill paying. While many municipalities, counties, and states have made rent and mortgage adjustments for many a real thing, many have not. While certain states have forbidden vital services from being cut off during this pandemic, others have not.
Autopay Hiccups
To make this worse, many do their banking through “autopay” so when their stimulus payments were received, these emergency funds were spent the moment they arrived, often to utilities that were unneeded at present. Some credit must be given to this administration’s Treasury Department in stimulus payment distribution. However, many banks’ customers failed to turn off these “autopay” features. It’s no fun to visit your bank’s site only to see you have “no money.” This avoidance and self-denial left many making payments with money that only just arrived and was needed elsewhere in their lives.
My banks entire system, web site and customer service # crashed this morning https://t.co/2sn3VyHy8k
— The Live Life (@southbyYES) April 15, 2020
If you’re struggling to make ends meet, and they can’t shut off your power you don’t pay the power company. Consequently, millions of disputes online have seen banking sites down, from your local bank to Wells Fargo. Many for a very short period of time, but banking sites down, was to be expected with this many people all receiving checks of stimulus payments via direct deposit at the same time and the difference in how people now do their banking.
