This was not a typical Monday morning in June for BankAtlantic's customer service personnel. After launching a new online banking system, many account holders could not access their accounts or their money. Online gamblers were scared since on June 1, 2010, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act went into effect. This Act left it up to the banks to bear the burden of denting online gaming by freezing online gambling transactions. Financial institutions argue that they do not have the capability to block transactions but Congress has turned a deaf ear.
Initially, most online gamers believed that their accounts were frozen due to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act but later realized that it was because of a glitch that had no bearing on that Act. BankAtlantic representatives went on high alert to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. BankAtlantic representatives also encouraged customers to try again later to log-in and explained how they will be happy with the new online system and all of the bells and whistles.
