MPs quiz bank bosses over scale of IT failures after Barclays outage
10 February 2025, 12:34
The Treasury Committee, a cross-party group formed of 11 members, wrote to banks including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Nationwide on Monday.
A group of MPs has asked the bosses of nine banks to reveal the scale of recent IT failures and compensation payouts, after an outage led to days of disruption for Barclays customers earlier this month.
The Treasury Committee, a cross-party group formed of 11 members, wrote to banks including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Nationwide on Monday.
Addressing the UK chief executives, it asked them to outline the total amount of time that services have been unavailable due to IT failures in the past two years, and the number of customers affected.
It also asked the bosses to share the amount of compensation that has been paid to customers as a result of any outages.
The letters referred to the Barclays outage which saw up to three days of disruption for customers, believed to be caused by a technical issue.
The incident coincided with payday for many workers and the deadline for self-assessment tax returns.
The bank said it would “ensure that no customer is left out of pocket” after some people were left seeing an outdated balance or faced issues receiving and making payments.
Barclays’ UK boss Vim Maru has been requested by the Treasury Committee to explain in more detail what caused the recent outage and how it was dealt with, and also how it expects to manage a slew of customer complaints.
MP Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the committee, said: “When a bank’s IT system goes down, it can be a real problem for our constituents who were relying on accessing certain services so they can buy food or pay bills.
“For it to happen at a major bank such as Barclays at such a crucial time of year is either bad luck or bad planning.
“Either way, it’s important to learn what has happened and what will be done about it.”
She added that the impact of IT failures has been worsened by a “rapidly declining number of high street bank branches”.
The lenders, also including NatWest, Santander UK, Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland and Danske Bank UK, have until February 26 to respond to the letters.
