--Bank of America website problems started on Friday
--Bank spokeswoman says problems not a result of hacking, attack or malware
--Spokeswoman said most customers can still access accounts
(Updates with comments from bank spokeswoman starting in fourth paragraph.)
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)-- Bank of America Corp. (BAC), the nation's biggest bank by assets, continues to suffer issues with its online banking website on Monday, a problem that has persisted since last Friday.
Some customers trying to access either the bank's homepage or their personal accounts are experiencing slowness and trouble accessing them. The problems initially started on Friday, continued to impact sporadic accounts Saturday and have come back Monday, key dates for some customers who get paid on the first of the month or owe bills.
"We're sorry, but some of our pages are temporarily unavailable," A message on the bank's homepage said. "Thanks for your patience."
A spokeswoman for the bank said the messages customers are getting are a " proactive attempt" to direct some traffic away from the site, allowing the bank to slow usage and handle the underlying cause.
The spokeswoman said the bank is not divulging the underlying cause, but that it is not a result of hacking or malware. The bank also has refused to release details on whether the problem is nationwide or impacting only certain areas. She said there were no problems on Sunday, but that Monday the issues were again sporadic.
The spokeswoman said the site was not down, and that most customers can access their accounts, although some were experiencing unusual slowness.
At the end of June, the bank had 29.7 million active online banking accounts, more than half of which use the bank's bill-paying services from the website. The days immediately around the first of the month typically generate higher volume on the bank's website.
On Friday, the website was also plagued with issues, which the spokeswoman at the time said was not the result of any hacking. The spokeswoman also said the website trouble wasn't related to a decision last week to charge customers $5 a month for debit-card purchases.
Bank of America's debit fee has raised the ire of many consumers and consumer groups last week, despite other large national banks having undertaken similar steps recently. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) are both "testing" monthly fees on debit cards in some regions, though both have been charging $3 a month in the trials. Other banks have also announced $5 monthly fees, including SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI).
By David Benoit
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
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