Economic stimulus anticipation killing small banks

As millions of Americans are waiting to see that sweet sweet stimulus rebate appear in their bank accounts, many banks are feeling the pressure. My boss reported that as he was trying to manage his parent's finances last week he couldn't get into the local bank's online service. A phone call later and the problem was revealed to him by a friendly bank employee. The online banking system couldn't handle the repeated refreshes it was getting which could only be attributed to the throngs of people eagerly awaiting their HDTV allowance from the government.

We already received our stimulus package but today as a I tried to check the status of several automatic bill payments I was confronted with an error page. It's not that I don't understand the load that these requests are having on banks, I am just surprised that that many people are refreshing their bank websites in the wait for government cheese. It seems the many economic stimulus sales may be inciting consumers to spend spend spend.

If you haven't received your rebate yet and your social security number's time has come and gone be sure to check out several reasons your rebate may have been delayed. If you don't fit any of those categories and you still haven't received your money and you bank anywhere other than Citi or Chase do me a favor -- WAIT -- don't check your bank account like a meth addict in need of a hit. Some of us have important banking matters to attend to, like seeing if the PayPal transfer for selling my toilet paper roll collection went through!

• Have I got my check yet? Is it here NOW? How 'bout now? Too many account balance refreshes is <a href="http://www.walletpop.com/2008/05/13/economic-stimulus-anticipation-killing-small-banks/">wreaking havoc with the web sites of smaller banks</a>, which aren't set up for this much activity.
• Blogger Julie Tilsner was <a href="http://www.walletpop.com/2008/05/09/wheres-my-economic-stimulus-check/">disappointed to discover that she and her husband didn't receive the economic stimulus check when she expected it</a>. She read that it MAY have been because she used an electronic filing service and paid it a fee to file; but she's still not sure and doesn't know who to ask. So she'll just keep checking the mail...
• A great number of major <a href="http://www.walletpop.com/2008/05/09/economic-stimulus-sales/">U.S. stores are having specials for those who bring their economic stimulus check to them</a>. You'll usually have to commit the entire thing to one retail outlet, but you'll get a bonus good towards more merchandise.
• Legal immigrants who are waiting for their social security numbers, and spouses of anyone who is without a social security number (whether legal or illegally in the country) <a href="http://www.walletpop.com/2008/05/12/another-group-of-taxpayers-surprised-by-an-economic-stimulus-det/">were surprised to learn they won't receive an economic stimulus check</a>.
• The first thing that arrived for many consumers were <a href="http://www.walletpop.com/2008/05/02/economic-stimulus-stimulating-lots-of-fraud/">scams seeking to get bank account numbers, credit card numbers, and other identity information out of eager taxpayers waiting for their stimulus checks</a>.