Many customers of AIB were left without access to cash for much of this afternoon, one of the busiest shopping days before Christmas, after a system problem left them unable to use their cards at ATMs across the State.

Shortly before 5pm the bank said it had resolved the problem and it stressed that no customer would be left out of pocket as a result the breakdown.

A spokeswoman said the cause of the system failure lay with “a third party provider” and she said some branches would staying open late tonight to assist customers.

The problem first emerged at lunchtime when AIB customers started reporting that their cards were being declined at ATMS.

Denise Turner from Gorey was one such customer. “I went to an Ulster Bank ATM and tried to take money out but the card was declined.

“But when I went to an AIB ATM it told me that the money had been withdrawn and as a result I was declined at that machine too. When I went into a branch I was told that the system would not be fixed until Tuesday which is Christmas Eve. What are we supposed to do now?”

When this issue was highlighted, AIB told The Irish Times that it was “looking to resolve this for customers ASAP”. She said the “hold on such cash will be lifted this evening”. She said the bank was “currently at the stage of identifying these customers and resolving the matter”.

AIB's problems come just hours after Bank of Ireland customers reported delays in having money credited to their accounts after the bank experience delays in getting delivery of a file used to update customer accounts.

Shortly after 10am a spokeswoman for the bank said the issue had been resolved.