Barclays customers facing third day of problems due to ongoing IT issue

2 February 2025, 07:32 | Updated: 2 February 2025, 08:03

Barclays customers are facing a third day of disrupted services on Sunday following an IT problem.

Online and mobile banking have been hit during the problem, which began on Friday.

The bank said people could see an outdated balance with payments made or received not showing.

Customers using the app on Sunday morning were greeted with a message headed "Thank you for bearing with us".

The message said Barclays was working to correct the user's balance to ensure it shows all payments and the issue was "taking longer than we'd like to fix".

The company's status check website listed the Barclays and Barclaycard apps, online banking and services, cards, payments and transfers, branches and telephone banking as areas disrupted by the problem.

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

In a statement on Saturday, Barclays said it was "extremely sorry" it was facing "ongoing technical issues" and that no affected customer would be "left out of pocket".

Videos have been shared to social media of people queueing at cash points in an attempt to get their money.

Read more: US wants Ukraine to hold elections after potential ceasefire with Russia, Trump envoy says

Read more: Owning AI tech to create child sex abuse images to become criminal offence as reports of depraved pictures soar

A spokesperson said: "Some may continue to see an outdated balance, and payments made or received may not show.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"

Outage tracker Down Detector has received thousands of reports of problems, more than half (52%) of them for issues with mobile banking with 38% for online problems and 10% connected to paying bills.

Friday's outage coincided with payday for many workers and the deadline for self-assessment tax returns.

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 bank's outage will not result in late HMRC payment penalties as these do not apply until March 1, a spokesperson added.

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

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 she 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.