Barclays Bank has been experiencing a significant IT outage, preventing customers from making payments and transfers for over 24 hours. This disruption coincided with the end-of-month payday and the UK’s self-assessment tax deadline, amplifying the impact on users.
Despite efforts to resolve the issue, intermittent errors persisted, affecting essential transactions such as purchasing baby formula and completing property payments. Customers were warned of potential incorrect account balances, with some payments not being updated. Barclays also cautioned against potential scams exploiting the situation.
A Barclays spokesperson assured that the bank is working diligently to rectify the problem and ensure no customer suffers financial loss. The bank, serving over 20 million UK retail customers and handling 40% of the country's credit and debit card transactions, faced criticism for suggesting customers seek help from family and friends during the outage.
As the tax self-assessment deadline approached, many users expressed concerns about being unable to make tax payments due to the system failure. However, the UK’s HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reassured that their services remained operational and that late payment penalties would not be enforced until March 1.
