TD Bank customers alarmed by snafu

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- For a third time this week, TD Bank's 6.5 million U.S. customers cannot see real-time updates on their account transactions and balances. And even that's an improvement.

In a statement released Thursday, TD Bank (TD) said customers can only see their account balance and transactions as of Wednesday evening because the bank is "experiencing an unusual delay in [its] overnight batch postings."

Earlier Thursday, customers couldn't even log in to their online accounts. But TD Bank spokeswoman Jennifer Carlson said that access was restored as of 3 p.m. ET.

TD Bank, which holds $80 billion in deposits, said it expects to complete processing transactions and have current balances later in the day, and will reverse fees, charges or interest incurred because of the disruption.

The system first malfunctioned Monday night when the Toronto-based bank tried to integrate its operating system with New Jersey-based Commerce bank, which it acquired last year. TD Bank said the problem was resolved Tuesday, resurfaced Tuesday night, was resolved again Wednesday, and then recurred.

Carlson said that "higher-than-normal transaction volumes are compounding and having to play catch up" and ultimately causing a "computer glitch."

She added that the bank, which has more than 1,000 branches along the East Coast, is "posting transactions as fast as we can using the system we have in place" and hopes customers will be able to see real-time transactions and balances later Thursday.

Carlson said that "a vast majority of customers" can still access their funds, including Thursday's deposits, continue to make transactions, and have their automatic payments completed. She couldn't say exactly how many customers have that access.

Last week, the bank's New England and upstate New York branches changed their name from TD Banknorth to TD Bank, bringing more than 1,000 of its units between Maine and Florida under the same name.

Lauren Ventola, 23, who started using the bank seven years ago when it was still called Commerce Bank, hasn't found the bank to be as convenient as its "America's Most Convenient Bank" slogan. As a medical student on the Caribbean island of Grenada, she relies on online banking to manage her finances.

"With the TD Bank Web site down I can't check statements, make sure rent money has cleared or determine my credit card balance," Ventola said when she couldn't log in at all.