Barclays Outage Disrupts Banking Services on Tax Deadline Day

LONDON, England – Barclays, one of the world’s largest banks, faced a major IT outage on Friday, leaving thousands of customers unable to access their accounts, make payments, or view balances. The disruption, which began at 9 a.m. local time (4 a.m. EST), coincided with the UK’s tax deadline day and payday for many workers, exacerbating frustrations.

Downdetector, a service that tracks online outages, recorded over 1,600 reports of issues with Barclays’ mobile and online banking services. The bank acknowledged the problem two hours later, assuring customers that credit cards and ATMs were functioning normally. However, many users reported difficulties with in-person payments and cash withdrawals, even with sufficient funds in their accounts.

Barclays initially offered phone support but later admitted that telephone banking was also affected. “We’re sorry, we’re having some problems helping you over the phone right now – we’re urgently working to fix this,” the bank stated on its website at 11 a.m. EST.

The timing of the outage added to the chaos, as Friday marked the deadline for self-assessment tax returns to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and payday for many UK workers. Customers took to social media to express their frustration. One X user wrote, “Due to you Barclays, I’m left without money. Had a food shop due for delivery this morning which now will get canceled, leaving my four kids with no food.” Another customer shared, “Well, I’ve just had to put all my shopping back in Tesco. Never been so embarrassed in my life … as I can’t access my own money.”

Ruth, a 39-year-old self-employed cleaner, told BBC News she 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.”

HMRC confirmed it was working closely with Barclays to minimize the 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 March 1.”

Barclays, which serves 20 million UK customers and processes over 40% of the country’s credit and debit card transactions, apologized for the disruption. “We’re incredibly sorry for the ongoing technical issues that are impacting our customers’ accounts,” a spokesperson said on Saturday. “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.”

The bank assured customers that no one would be “left out of pocket” due to the outage. This incident follows a similar disruption earlier this month when Capital One customers experienced a dayslong outage caused by a power failure at third-party vendor FIS Global.