Actually it makes perfectly good sense. In order for the banks to “share” ATMs the way they do (notice all those logos next to the ATM showing all the other places besides your bank you can do business with) they have to share software within the ATMs. So that tells us the problem was in the ATM software, not the core banking software (which is almost never shared).
The problem was not only with the ATMs. In fact, the ATM was the ONLY place I COULD get any cash from Wells Fargo. I could not use my Wells Fargo card to make a point of sale purchase. And when I went into Wells Fargo, the tellers there could not process anything - I couldn't withdraw any cash. In fact, the tellers told me to try my luck with the ATM. And I wasn't the only one that had this problem or to whom they were giving this advice.
The tellers said they'd NEVER seen anything happen like this before. One had worked for Wells Fargo for 5 years and had never seen anything like it.