Barclays customers face their third day of disrupted services due to an ongoing IT problem, affecting online and mobile banking. The bank has apologized for the technical issues and assured customers that no one will be left out of pocket.
Technical Issues at Barclays: A Third Day of Disrupted Services
Barclays customers are facing their third day of disrupted services due to an ongoing IT problem that began on Friday. The issue has affected online and mobile banking, causing some users to see outdated balances with payments made or received not showing.
Impact of the Outage
A banking outage occurs when a bank's computer systems, online services, or ATMs are unavailable due to technical issues.
This can be caused by hardware failures, software glitches, cyberattacks, or maintenance activities.
According to a study, the average downtime for a bank's online services is around 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Banking outages can result in significant losses, with some estimates suggesting that every hour of downtime costs banks approximately $1 million.
To mitigate these risks, banks invest heavily in IT infrastructure, cybersecurity measures, and disaster recovery plans.
The bank’s status check website lists several areas that have been impacted by the technical issue, including Barclays and Barclaycard apps, online banking, services, cards, payments, transfers, branches, and telephone banking. Despite these disruptions, customers can still use their cards to make payments and withdraw cash from ATMs.
Barclays’ Response
In a statement, ‘We apologize for the ongoing technical issues and assure our customers that no one will be left out of pocket.’ Barclays assured customers that no one would be left out of pocket. The bank has also announced that it is keeping its call centers open for longer this weekend and will proactively contact vulnerable customers to offer support.
Update on HMRC Services
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is the UK government department responsible for collecting taxes, customs duties, and enforcing value added tax (VAT).
HMRC was formed in 2005 through the merger of the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise.
The agency has a vast network of offices across the UK, employing over 60,000 staff members.
HMRC's primary function is to collect revenue for the government, which amounts to around £600 billion annually.
The outage coincided with payday for many workers and the deadline for self-assessment tax returns. However, ‘HMRC is working closely with Barclays to minimize any impact on those submitting their self-assessments.’ Additionally, HMRC services are operating as normal, and customers will not face late payment penalties due to the bank’s outage.
Support Options
Barclays has advised customers experiencing difficulties accessing their money to seek support from friends and family or contact food banks. On social media, the ‘UK Help account provided links to a food bank website for users who were struggling to access their funds.’
