Barclays technical issues continue more than 24 hours on from initial outage

A major IT glitch is still affecting Barclays more than 24 hours on from the bank’s initial outage, with some customers continuing to face issues receiving and making payments.

The bank has warned some people may see an outdated balance and payments made or received may not show.

Barclays has apologised to customers, saying they are facing “ongoing technical issues that are impacting our customers’ accounts”.

“We will ensure that no customer is left out of pocket,” the bank said in a statement on Saturday.

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The PA news agency understands the outage has been caused by a technical issue and is currently not believed to be related to a cyber attack.

The outage began on Friday, the same day as January payday for many British workers and the deadline for self-assessment tax returns.

According to outage tracker Down Detector, thousands of customers have claimed they are experiencing issues with mobile banking, online banking and paying bills on Saturday.

Barclays said that their ATMs remain unaffected and that customers can withdraw cash and use their cards to make payments.

In a statement, HMRC said it is “working closely” with Barclays to minimise any impact on those submitting their self-assessments and that HMRC services are “working as normal”.

Any issues related to the Barclays outage will not result in late HMRC payment penalties as these do not apply until March 1, an HMRC spokesperson added.

Among those affected by the outage was civil servant Paola Meru, 39, who said her family had been left homeless after the payment for their new house had not gone through.

Mrs Meru sold her home in Uxbridge, where she lived with her husband and two daughters aged one and seven, and the family were supposed to move into their new house in West Sussex on Friday.

She told the PA news agency: “We drove down to (West Sussex on Friday) and we had all our things in a moving van and were waiting outside and unfortunately, around one o’clock, my solicitor calls and says Barclays is having some issues and we are unable to complete the sale.

“So we sold our house – we had the money from that – but we were unable to complete the other part of the sale so we are essentially homeless.

“We waited until five o’clock, Barclays still didn’t fix it, so we literally have no house and it is still not fixed.”

“It took us so long to get this dream house and yesterday was meant to be the happiest day of our lives and instead, we ended up homeless.”

Mrs Mereu said her family are currently staying with her mother in London with the moving van containing all their belongings parked on the driveway.

The family are currently in limbo about what to do next, she said.

“I am not sure if we will incur extra costs from the people we are buying from because we did not fulfil our part of the contract as the money was meant to go through on Friday,” she added.

Frustrated customers have been reaching out to Barclays support via social media.

“Due to you Barclays I’m left without money had a food shop due for delivery this morning that now will get cancelled, leave my four kids with no food it’s a joke as (it is) my money,” one X user claimed.

Another added: “Well I’ve just had to put all my shopping back in Tesco never been so embarrassed in my life .. as can’t access my own money.”

On social media, Barclays has advised customers experiencing difficulties accessing their money to seek support from friends and family and to contact food banks.

In response to a user on X who said her whole household had no access to their money, as both her and her husband bank with Barclays, the bank’s UK help X account replied suggesting she contact loved ones who may be able to offer support and with links to a food bank website.

In a statement on Saturday evening, a spokesperson for the bank said: “We’re extremely sorry for the ongoing technical issues that are impacting our customers’ accounts and are working hard to fix the issue.

“Some may continue to see an outdated balance, and payments made or received may not show. Customers should not try to make the payment again.

“Customers can use their cards and withdraw cash, use our app and online banking, and as soon as these remaining issues are resolved, we’ll let our customers know.

“We will ensure that no impacted customer is left out of pocket.

“We are keeping our call centres open for longer this weekend and we will be proactively contacting customers who may be vulnerable.”