United Kingdom: Barclays customers have continued to experience intermittent issues with payments and transfers for a second consecutive day, observing a major IT outage that has affected the bank’s app, online banking, and some card transactions.
The disruption, coinciding with payday and the self-assessment tax return deadline, has left many consumers unable to access their funds. Barclays has yet to provide an explanation for the outage or ensure how many people are affected.
Many customers have reported severe difficulties, with some unable to complete house moves, pay staff wages, or even purchase necessities. Diane Forrest, 61, from London, was left stranded outside her new home for four hours after being unable to meet her property sale.
Tim Horner, a businessman from West Sussex, said he has been incapable to pay employees or receive payments through his e-commerce platform. Ruth, a self-employed cleaner, said she had been unable to access money from her savings account to buy baby milk and food for five children in her care. Emily, from Exeter, has been forced to stay on a friend’s sofa after being unable to move into her new home.
Barclays has warned customers to stay vigilant against potential fraud attempts during the outage. The bank stated that, “Fraudsters often use times like this to send messages pretending to be Barclays.”
Meanwhile, frustrated customers have turned to social media for support. Barclays has apologized but faced criticism after advising some customers to pursue financial help from friends, family, or food banks.
The outage has also caused concerns for those attempting to make last-minute self-assessment tax payments to HMRC. However, HMRC has confirmed that no fines will be applied for payments delayed due to Barclays’ technical issues.
A Barclays spokesperson said the bank is “working hard to fix the issue” and assured customers they “will not be left out of pocket.” The bank has extended call centre hours and pledged to reach out to vulnerable customers directly.
Barclays is one of the UK’s largest banks, processing over 40 percent of the country’s credit and debit card transactions. This latest disruption adds to a growing list of high-profile banking and payment system outages in recent months.
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