Unexpectedly, it recently became clear that banks are not only threatened by fraudsters and hackers. The events of this fall cannot be called anything but fall.
Just a few days ago, a major system failure paralyzed the work of banking services in 128 regional credit banks (Shinkin banks). Operations for cash withdrawals and transfers via ATMs, deposits and withdrawals at branches in 3,430 branches as well as internet banking services have been suspended. That is, in effect, people lost access to their money, and no one told them the time frame for restoring it. However, Shinkin's central bank and network operator Shinkin Kyodo Center almost immediately denied the cyberattack theory. Later, a hardware failure was declared, and after 6 hours all the missing banking services started working normally.
And everything will be fine. But a few days earlier, residents of a country in a completely opposite part of the world found themselves without access to money. in Paraguay. There the depositors became hostages of the central bank's confrontation with the president and one of the country's central banks, which was forcibly taken under control.
Even earlier, on October 20, a power outage at one of Google's data centers near London prevented millions of Revolut customers in seven countries from accessing funds: cards did not work, payments and cash withdrawals were impossible. Lloyds, HSBC and Halifax also reported problems. The company reiterated that the customers' money and data are safe. Formally, it was true, but it was impossible to use these means.
It is not surprising that there was talk on social media of preparations for a global financial blockade. The press actively refutes these speculations. However, a fact is a fact. The account holder does not control the infrastructure, rules or decisions of the institutions where his money is held. And now they are actively demonstrating it to him.