Bancolombia SA Reports System Outage Amid Amazon Web Services Downtime

Bancolombia SA, a Colombian retail and commercial bank listed on the OTC Bulletin Board, confirmed that its mobile application, web portal, and some automated teller machines were experiencing widespread outages on Monday, 20 October 2025. The disruptions were attributed to a service interruption from Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud provider that hosts the bank’s digital infrastructure.

Impact on Customers

According to user reports collected via Downdetector and social‑media channels, the outage affected 434 devices by 8:20 a.m. local time. The most common issues were:

  • Mobile access failures (≈ 60 %) – users could not open the Mi Bancolombia app or were presented with a generic error message (“Something went wrong. We will fix it soon…”).
  • Login problems (≈ 33 %) – even after the app opened, authentication failed.
  • Web portal and ATM disruptions – a handful of users noted that the online banking website and certain ATMs were non‑functional, limiting basic transactions such as transfers, bill payments, and cash withdrawals.

The bank’s press releases indicate that the service interruption was linked to an AWS outage that began in the early morning hours. Bancolombia’s technical teams reported that they were working to restore full functionality across all digital channels.

Company Response

Bancolombia has acknowledged the issue and is actively coordinating with AWS to mitigate the impact. The bank’s spokesperson stated that the institution is monitoring the situation “in real‑time” and that the outage is “not expected to last beyond a few hours.” Customers were advised to use alternative channels, such as the bank’s call center or physical branches, for urgent transactions.

Context

Bancolombia SA operates in Colombia, Panama, the Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, and Miami. Its services include automobile, personal, and education loans; credit and debit card services; securities brokerage; fund transfers; lease and foreign trade financing; insurance; and pension funds. As of 3 June 2025, the stock closed at $44.30, with a 52‑week high of $44.29 on 25 March 2025 and a low of $30.68 on 12 November 2024.

The incident underscores the bank’s reliance on cloud‑based platforms for day‑to‑day operations. While Bancolombia has not yet disclosed any financial impact, the outage could affect customer confidence and the bank’s digital service reputation.