Over the weekend, Barclays suffered a major outage that left thousands of customers locked out of their accounts.
People couldn’t access their online or mobile banking, pay for essentials or make transfers. Some faced delayed payments, leaving them financially stranded. The effect of the outage was compounded by its timing: on the HMRC deadline day for self-assessment taxpayers to submit their returns. Ouch!
Here’s what you need to know about what's happened.
Why did it crash?
Banks rely on complex IT systems. A failure, cyberattack, or scheduled update can cause widespread issues. Barclays say that this was a “technical issue”. Outages are rare but very disruptive when they happen - and they can happen to anyone.
How to protect yourself
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Use multiple banks - or consider a digital-first back-up like Monzo, Chase or Revolut, who often have more agile systems.
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Have an emergency fund at a different bank
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Some suggest keeping cash on hand, but that can be more risky
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Set up emergency payments (alternative ways to pay like Apple Pay or Google Pay)
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Enable banking alerts so you’re notified of any banking issues as soon as they arise.
What to do now
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Check all your payments were made (or received) - even once your bank says “all good”!
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Investigate for compensation: if the outage cost you money through missed payments charges or late fees, you may be entitled to some money back.
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Follow your bank’s social media and check sites like Downdetector to get real-time updates on outages.
Stuff happens in finance, and having a backup plan for when it does is really important. Blackbullion can help you build better money habits so you’re never caught off guard.
