By April Lanux

Banking customers across the Mid-South were shocked last week to learn their paychecks would not arrive on time.

"I was really scared," said Alicia Jefferson, an Olive Branch resident. "(I thought), 'how am I going to feed my family?' I didn't want anything to bounce because of the issue."

Jefferson had been a customer of Cadence Bank since 2007. She learned of the technical outage on Thursday but hoped it would be resolved by payday. Her card then declined at the grocery store.

"I started to get a little worried," she explained. "Was my money safe? Was my money ever going to show up?"

By the time her paycheck arrived Sunday morning, she had already decided she would switch banks.

"Everybody needs their money," Jefferson said.

She was far from the only one.

In Tupelo, Terry Whaley told FOX13 he had to wait two days for his paycheck to arrive in his Cadence Bank account.

"The bills ain't going to wait on nobody," he explained. "I don't care who you are."

While he thankfully didn't have bills due in that time frame, the delay was enough to convince him to switch banks.

"What if I did have bills scheduled?" he asked. "What if I was traveling and needed to stop and get gas?"

Both Capital One and Tupelo-based Cadence Bank reported issues with a third-party vendor last week.

In a statement to FOX13, a Capital One spokesman wrote, "We sincerely apologize to our valued customers.”

On X, the company promised to "care for all reasonable fees incurred as a result of this incident once we are restored."

On Facebook, Cadence Bank wrote, "We know this was an inconvenience to our customers, and we thank you for your patience. We are committed to refunding any fees incorrectly assessed on accounts impacted by this outage."

"There should be some type of compensation for the inconvenience," said Sondra Watson, a Memphis resident and Capital One customer.

Watson was grateful she didn't put all her eggs in one basket.

"This is exactly why you have more than one account," she explained.

By April Lanux

World Bank plans to loan cash-stricken Pakistan $20 billion over the coming decade to nurture its private sector and bolster education and resilience to climate change, the country's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday.

Pakistan came to the brink of default in 2023, as a political crisis compounded the shock from the global economic downturn and drove the nation's debt burden to terminal levels.

It was saved by a $7 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – and has enjoyed a degree of recovery since – with inflation easing and foreign exchange reserves increasing.

Sharif said the World Bank funding would be used for "child nutrition, quality education, clean energy, climate resilience, inclusive development and private investment."

The deal "reflects the World Bank's confidence in Pakistan's economic resilience and potential," he said on social media platform X on Wednesday.

Pakistan has grappled with a chronically low tax base and mammoth amounts of external debt, which swallow up half its annual revenues.

The IMF deal – Pakistan's 24th since 1958 – came with stern conditions that the country improve income tax takings and cut popular power subsidies, cushioning costs of the inefficient sector.

The World Bank said the new $20 billion scheme would begin in the fiscal year 2026 and last until 2035.

"The economy is recovering from the recent crisis as the government has launched an ambitious program of fiscal, energy and business environment reforms," said a summary of the plan released by the World Bank.

But it warned that a "track record of past stop-and-go reform episodes handicaps the government's credibility," meaning that new investment may be "slow to materialize."

Therefore, the World Bank plans to make "more selective, stable and larger investments in areas critical for sustained development and that requires time and persistence for impact. "

The World Bank's Pakistan director Najy Benhassine said in a statement the deal "represents a long-term anchor" that will "address some of the most acute development challenges facing the country."