Woman Checks Family's Bank Account After the Death of Her Grandmother, Learns That They Are $99 Billion in Debt

A Seattle family got a jolt recently when they discovered their bank balance showed them being $99 billion in debt. When they checked the account online, it read -$99,999,999,999.22. Read on to find out what happened, how it was resolved—and why 22 cents?

On Reddit, Kana Kardong, 19, shared a screenshot of a bank account with a balance of  -$99,999,999,999.22, where it has received more than 49,000 upvotes. "Either my bank messed up, or I am going to have to start making financial adjustments," she headlined the post.

Kardong's mother, Darcie, discovered the issue when she checked the account after her mother died. "My grandmother recently passed away after a long, painful illness," Kardong told Newsweek. "Our family was broken. I have an account where my grandmother left me money for college. My mom was checking on this when she noticed the negative balance in the billions. She was understandably distraught, as were the rest of us. Not as much about the ridiculous error, but that it might result in my losing my opportunity to go to school."

When Kardong's mother contacted the bank, they revealed that the account had been put on hold—standard procedure for a joint account in which one of the holders dies. "We are still not entirely sure why that is noted as -$99,999,999,999.22," said Kardong. "As some Redditors mentioned, the 22 cents does definitely seem a bit random. The bank then also generously offered overdraft protection. The money was claimed, and the hold was lifted."

Kardong's post on Reddit has received more than 2,400 comments, where respondents have had a little fun with the image of the bank receipt.  "When you click 'next, next, next' on the payment menu without paying attention to the tips," said one Redditor.  "I think your financial adjustment would be to change your name, leave the country, and start over elsewhere," said another.  "They say if you owe a thousand, you have a problem. But if you owe a million, the lender has a problem. Leverage that jazz!" said another.

"My mom has really struggled through a lot with the bereavement process and grieving recently and this just seemed like the cherry on top of it all," Kardong told Newsweek. "I was definitely a little irritated with the bank since they hadn't even really explained what this ridiculous charge was before going through with it. I thought that if anything, we may get a few funny comments that I could read to my mom to make her feel better about everything."  Kardong says the humorous comments had kept her mother's spirits up. "Our whole family is very grateful for the support," she said.