Computer Glitch Results in $23 Quadrillion Visa Charge (and a $15 Overdraft Fee)

Posted 07/16/2009 at 2:23pm | by Paul Lilly

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It can be irritating going through the process of getting a disputed charge removed from your credit card bill, but have you ever been overcharged to the tune of $23,138,855,308,184,500? That's exactly what some Visa card holders recently saw on their statement, which as CNN points out, is 2,007 times the size of the national debt. We suppose that's one way boost the economy.

We can't even fathom spending over $23 quadrillion in a single month, and neither could Josh Muszynski, a 22-year-old from New Hampshire who was panicked after discovering the 17-digit charge. After being put on hold for what he claims was two hours, Bank of America, the issuer of his Visa prepaid debit card, removed the exorbitant charge along with a $15 overdraft fee.

Visa blamed the glitch on a "temporary programming error at Visa Debit Processing Services, which caused some transactions to be inaccurately posted to a small number of Visa prepaid accounts." That "small number" includes fewer than 13,000 prepaid transactions, Visa said.

We wonder if anyone just sent in a check for the full amount.