Barclays banking disruption continues, customers face payment issues into Sunday; key things to know

UK banking giant Barclays has continued to face service disruptions due to an IT glitch, affecting customers with payment issues, according to a report by PA Media. The disruption in banking services is likely to continue today (February 2) following an IT glitch and Barclays has warned that some people may see outdated balance, and payments made or received may not show. 

The Barclays outage began on Friday (January 31) — salary payday for many British workers, and last day for self-assessed tax returns, causing much uproar and frustration. It is believed to be technical in nature, despite speculation of a cyber attack, the report added.

Barclays Says Will Ensure ‘No Customer is Left Out of Pocket’

In a statement, Barclays apologised for the “ongoing technical issues that are impacting our customers’ accounts” and said that it will ensure no customer is “left out of pocket”.

Till February 1, thousands of customers reports on Down Detector showed that they were experiencing issues with mobile banking, online banking and paying bills. The bank in its statement said that ATMs are unaffected, and can be used by customers to withdraw cash. The bank also adviced use of cards to make payments.

“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,” a spokesperson for the bank ensured.

In a statement, HMRC (Revenue & Customs) said it is “working closely” with Barclays to minimise impact on those submitting their self-assessments and that the HMRC's own 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,” a spokesperson added.

What Customers Say? ‘Homeless, No Food, No Money…’

Speaking to PA Media, 39-year-old civil servant Paola Mereu said her family had been left homeless after the payment for their new house failed due to the glitch. Mereu said she 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 January 31.

“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.”

Frustrated customers also reached out to Barclays on social media, with one user on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “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.”

(With inputs from PA Media)