128 Shinkin banks in western Japan lose ATMs and counters after failure

Equipment failure stopped ATMs, branch counters and internet banking at 128 Shinkin banks in western Japan on Friday, November 6, 2026. The outage began around 1:30 p.m. Tokyo time and reached 3,430 branches. Shinkin Central Bank said no cyberattack was detected.

The Kinki region and Tokushima Prefecture account for 27 of the affected banks, according to a Japanese report. Customers could not withdraw cash, make transfers or check balances in real time, and the Shinkin banks in Okazaki, Osaka and Hiroshima were among those hit.

The operator Shinkin Kyodo Center and the coordinating institution Shinkin Central Bank said the data routes failed because of mechanical and electronic problems in switching servers. Jiji Press reported that both institutions issued a statement apologizing for the incident.

The scale of the stoppage raised concern in Tokyo about the resilience of telecom networks in Japan’s financial sector. Each bank does not run an isolated network: the category relies on a shared transmission core that links local branches to national clearing. When that core stops sending signals, every member loses instant contact with the database.

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How the outage unfolded from 1:30 p.m. Tokyo time

• 13:30: ATMs and branch counters lose connection to the central database in western Japan.
• 14:15: Regional banks report they cannot finish withdrawals or transfers at the counter.
• 15:00: Shinkin Central Bank and Shinkin Kyodo Center finish initial checks, find a physical network fault and rule out hacking.

Later in the day, Jiji Press reported that some services, including deposits and withdrawals, were restored. A Japanese report said the center had projected recovery around 4:45 p.m., but the center had not confirmed full normalization.

Why one shared network can halt 128 banks at once

The Shinkin Joint System serves 236 of the country’s 254 shinkin banks, which is more than 90% of the sector. The western network was updated in mid-October, according to the Sankei Shimbun, and the failure hit only that side while eastern banks kept operating normally.

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Shared infrastructure lowers operating costs for small and mid-sized credit cooperatives, but it turns isolated faults into widespread stoppages. The Shinkin Kyodo Center’s internal review is focused on replacing faulty hardware and checking the contingency protocols that should have switched service to backup servers.