CITIBANK ATM problems persist into second day, live tellers fill customers' cash needs

NEW YORK (AP) _ Citibank's nationwide system of 2,000 automated teller machines experienced software problems again on Wednesday, forcing thousands of customers to use bank tellers or get cash from

Wednesday, September 5th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Citibank's nationwide system of 2,000 automated teller machines experienced software problems again on Wednesday, forcing thousands of customers to use bank tellers or get cash from other institutions' ATMs.

Citibank said it would refund any fees customers had to pay for alternative services.

The system crashed late Tuesday afternoon. Service was restored several hours later, but ATMs started faltering again Wednesday morning, said Citibank spokesman Mark Rodgers.

``We are working hard to resolve the issues as quickly as possible,'' Rodgers said.

Bank officials blamed an internal software problem triggered by high demand for cash following the Labor Day weekend. Some internal bank systems also were affected, they said.

About 2 million U.S. households hold consumer banking accounts at Citibank, one of the world's largest consumer banks, Rodgers said. Citibank is a unit of financial services giant Citigroup.