A significant IT failure at Barclays resulted in thousands of customers being locked out of their accounts for almost 24 hours, causing widespread inconvenience and financial distress.
The outage, which started on Friday, coincided with the HMRC self-assessment tax return deadline and payday for many employees. Barclays acknowledged the problem and stated that it was experiencing “intermittent errors” affecting its payment system. The bank assured customers that it was actively working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
According to Down Detector, an outage monitoring platform, there were more than 1,600 reported cases of service disruptions. Many customers reported missing funds and an inability to make or receive payments, leading to significant financial strain.
Frustrated customers took to social media to express their grievances. One user shared that their grocery delivery was canceled due to insufficient funds in their account, while another recounted an embarrassing situation where they had to abandon their shopping at a supermarket checkout.
Ruth, a self-employed cleaner, told media sources that she had to use her savings to cover essential expenses. She explained, “We need the money to buy groceries, and all our funds are currently in our bank account, which we can’t access.”
HMRC confirmed that penalties for late tax payments would not apply until March 1 and reassured affected individuals that Barclays was working to minimize the impact on customers. The bank also emphasized that it was in direct contact with HMRC to ensure affected customers would not face penalties due to delayed payments.
Barclays issued an apology, stating, “We are incredibly sorry for the technical issues impacting our customers. Some may see outdated balances or missing transactions, but we are working hard to resolve these problems. Customers should refrain from attempting duplicate transactions.”
Despite the disruption, Barclays reassured customers that they could still use their debit cards and withdraw cash from ATMs. The bank pledged to compensate affected users for any financial losses resulting from the outage.
The incident highlights ongoing concerns about the reliability of digital banking infrastructure. As financial institutions increasingly rely on technology to manage transactions, such failures raise questions about system resilience and contingency planning.
For more information on banking regulations and consumer rights, visit Financial Conduct Authority or UK Finance.
