01 February 2025 , 17:23
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Outage comes on HMRC’s deadline day for settling self-assessment tax returns and a pay day for many workers
A serious IT glitch has left some Barclays customers locked out of their accounts throughout the night and almost 24 hours on from the bank’s initial outage.
Barclays has apologised to customers and said it was “currently facing intermittent errors” with its payment system. “We’re working to fix this as quickly as possible,” it said.
Customers were deprived of access to their accounts on Friday – HMRC’s deadline day for settling self-assessment tax returns and a payday for many workers.
The Down Detector website shows more than 1,600 reports of outages for Barclays banking services since Friday. Hundreds of customers have had funds go missing and their banking services interrupted.
Some expressed their frustration on social media: “Due to you Barclays I’m left without money had a food shop due for delivery this morning which now will get cancelled, leave my four kids with no food it’s a joke as my money,” one X user wrote. Another said: “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.”
Ruth, 39, a self-employed cleaner, told BBC News she had had to dip into her savings to feed her children. “We need the money to do shopping, our money is all in savings,” she said.
“I’ve got my granddaughter here who’s 11 months old, also a one-year-old, two-year-old, 12-year-old, 13-year-old, 15-year-old all at home. There could be many single mums in the same situation with no access to money.”
Friday was the deadline for self-employed workers to pay their income tax, with £100 fines issued for those who miss the deadline.
HMRC told the BBC, however, that it was working closely with Barclays to minimise any impact on customers.
A spokesperson said: “Our services are working as normal, so customers will be able to file their returns on time. Today’s issues will not result in late payment penalties as they don’t apply until 1st March.”
Barclays said: “We’re in direct contact with HMRC and they are aware of the technical issues with our system.
“We will ensure that no customer is left out of pocket because of delayed payments caused by this incident.”
Barclays has spent much of the past 24 hours apologising on social media to furious customers. In response to one customer on X, the bank said: “I’m really sorry for the inconvenience caused. We’re having some problems with our systems today and you may have trouble using some features in our app, online banking as well as payments in and out of your accounts.”
In a statement on Saturday, a Barclays spokesperson said: “We’re incredibly sorry for the ongoing technical issues that are impacting our customers’ accounts.
“Some may see an outdated balance, and payments made or received may not show.
“We’re working hard to fix this issue, and customers should not try to make the payment again.
“Customers can use their cards and withdraw cash, and as soon as these remaining issues are resolved, we’ll let our customers know.”
The bank said it would ensure that no affected customers were “left out of pocket”.