Why your unemployment deposit didn’t show up this week (it’s coming)

A delay with direct deposits to one bank is the latest problem for the state's beleaguered unemployment system.

Payments may be delayed for Bank of America customers by up to two days after the bank had “an issue on their side processing certain direct deposit payments due to weekend system maintenance,” according to a statement by the state's Office of Information Technology.

Bank of America spokesman Mark Pipitone said in an additional statement early Tuesday that “all recipients should receive their payments today.”

Gov. Phil Murphy during his daily COVID-19 briefing Monday said “it was not the state, it was not our systems" when asked about the problem. The governor was not sure if the problem was with receiving payments from the state or the extra $600 those collecting unemployment receive as part of the federal CARES Act.

Bank of America spokesman Mark Pipitone told New Jersey 101.5 "we are working with the state of New Jersey to get these important payments processed as quickly as possible."

More than 1 million people have filed for unemployment benefits since March during the COVID-19 public health emergency, severely taxing the 40-year-old Cobol-based computer systems used to process claims The demand has led to backups in claims, making it extremely difficult to resolve problems. Murphy has said all will receive all payment due them. More than $4.3 billion in payments have been made.

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