Wells Fargo has been in the limelight recently for many wrong reasons. Sometime in February, customers of the 13th largest bank worldwide could not use various services including online banking, ATMs, and even credit cards. They blamed that incident on ‘power shutdown’ which caused a buzz in the crypto world.

At the end of February, Benjamin Wolf reported that they had $1400 sitting in a savings account with the same bank since 1997. The user forgot about his savings until 2019 when he decided to check the amount of interest his savings had garnered in the last 22 years. To his astonishment, the bank said that they do not have his account records or his funds.

Had $1400 sitting in a savings account with WellsFargo since ‘97. Forgot about it til now. They told me they dont have it. They closed it after 2yr inactivity. They told me the state has it. Called the state, they don’t have it. @APompliano Long Bitcoin Short Bankers — Benjamin Wolf (@BenWolf369) February 27, 2019

From $1400 to $9.53

Wells Fargo claims that they closed the account in question after two years of inactivity and handed it over to the state. When Mr. Wolf called the state, they also said that they do not have the account. He was so disgruntled that he said that he would long bitcoin and short the bankers.

He decided to talk to the bank in person after the state had told him that they do not have his money. The banker informed him that the account only had $9.53 representing a loss of 99.64% of his initial deposits in the savings account. The banker was still adamant that they do not have the money but instead, he should contact the state who has it. On the other end, the state has no record of it.

The issue that baffles everyone is how the amount dropped from $1400 to $9 when it should have been accumulating a 2% interest. When Mr. Wolf insisted for any transaction records, the banker stated that they did not have any such records since it has been more than seven years of the account’s dormancy.

1) Update: talked to the bank in person after calling the state. The banker said the account had $9 and some change. Told me they don’t have it and the state does. But the state has no record of it. Don’t know how it went from $1400 to $9 when it should have been getting 2%. — Benjamin Wolf (@BenWolf369) February 28, 2019

He messaged Wells Faro directly and up to now, he is still hoping that the mystery of the loss of his money can be debunked. In the end, he is still disgruntled because, just like many other users, he thought the bank is ‘safe.’

2) In person banker said they cant get me any transaction recorded since it’s been more than 7 years. DMed Wells Fargo and hopefully they can at least find out what happened. People use banks because they are “safe”. I’ve never felt so cheated. I hope they can help resolver this. — Benjamin Wolf (@BenWolf369) February 28, 2019

With such cases on the rise across the banking sector, more and more users are turning to other ways of keeping their money safe including cryptocurrency. The misfortunes of the banks may prove a propeller for the mass adoption of digital currencies.

To conclude, Wells Fargo responded to Benjamin’s tweets by promising to get more into the situation.

I noticed your tweet, and I’d like to take a closer look into this situation. Please DM us with your full name, phone number and address, and we’ll do our best to address this matter. For privacy reasons, do not include any account or claim numbers in the DM. Thanks. -Bettina https://t.co/q1oBDuYAdh — Ask Wells Fargo (@Ask_WellsFargo) February 27, 2019

Do you think cryptocurrencies can help to solve such situations? Let us know what is your opinion with the matter in a comment section down below.