Barclays customers face second day of issues after IT outage

Barclays customers are experiencing intermittent errors with payments and transfers for a second day after serious IT problems that also affected the bank's app and online banking.

Customers have told the BBC they are unable to make essential transactions, ranging from buying baby milk to completing a house move.

Barclays said on Saturday that cards and cash machines could be used as normal - although some customers have said this is not the case.

A Barclays spokesperson said the bank is "working hard to fix the issue" and that it will "ensure that no impacted customer is left out of pocket".

The outage began on Friday, which was pay day for many people in the UK, and the deadline for self-assessment tax returns.

Barclays has not explained the cause of the IT problems or how many people are affected.

On Saturday afternoon, Barclays' website indicated that problems persisted with its app, and warned that customers may face issues making and receiving payments.

The website also told customers that the bank may not be able to assist with all queries in branches "due to issues we're facing".

It warned customers on its website to "be vigilant" during the outage because "fraudsters often use times like this to send messages pretending to be Barclays".

A number of frustrated customers have attempted to reach out to Barclays support via social media - some of the bank's responses have drawn criticism.

On X, the bank apologised to many, but also advised some customers facing difficulties accessing their money to seek support from friends and family and to get in touch with food banks.

Barclays customer Diane Forrest in Teddington, London, said she was supposed to complete the sale on a house on Friday.

"I sat outside the new house with all belongings in a removal truck for over four hours but no alternative solution could be found," she told the BBC.

The 61-year-old said she was in a hotel for the weekend and has "several thousand pounds more costs to incur" and "no friends free to help with the [house] removals if they go ahead on Monday".

Businessman Tim Horner from Petworth, West Sussex, said on Saturday he has been unable to pay his staff or HMRC.

He told the BBC that he has had "multiple calls" from people trying to make payments to his ecommerce platform, saying that their payments are "being refused".

"I have lost thousands of pounds due to my online store being unable to receive payments as we have a Barclays account," Mr Horner said.

Ruth, 39, a self-employed cleaner, told BBC News she had been trying to access money with her partner from their savings account for several hours so she could buy milk for a baby and food for five other children she is looking after at home.

"We need the money to do shopping, our money is all in savings," she explained.

"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."

She said she had been able to get some help from her teenage daughter, but said there could be "many single mums in the same situation with no access to money".

Emily from Exeter told the BBC that she is spending the weekend on a friend's sofa after being unable to move into her new house on Friday.

"I'm effectively homeless with my two children and two cats," she said, adding that her children were staying with family.

"My removal van is abandoned with everything I have in it," the 44-year-old said. "My money is who knows where. My cats [were] covered in excrement from being in carriers for hours."

"I'm a single mother who has worked incredibly hard for this and to be left homeless is indescribable."

Barclays is one of the UK's largest banks, with over 20 million UK retail customers. It says it processes over 40% of the UK's credit and debit card transactions.

Website downdetector, which monitors outages, says thousands of people have flagged problems at the bank. On Saturday morning, it showed more than 4,000 issues had been reported with Barclays, more than double the number reported on Friday.

Friday was the deadline for self-assessment tax returns, and some customers have said the outage has left them unable to make payments to HMRC.

Earlier on Friday, HMRC warned that millions of people have still not filed their self-assessment tax returns, and warned of £100 fines for those who did not meet the deadline.

However, in a statement to the BBC, HMRC said it was "working closely" with Barclays to minimise any impact on customers filing their self-assessments.

A spokesperson added: "Our services are working as normal, so customers will be able to file their returns on time.

HMRC added that Barclays issues "will not result in late payment penalties as they don't apply until 1st March".

In a statement, Barclays said: "We're in direct contact with HMRC and they are aware of the technical issues with our system."

It added: "We will ensure that no customer is left out of pocket because of delayed payments caused by this incident."

It is not the first time banking app customers have been left unable to access funds or make payments.

PayPal suffered a brief but notable outage in November that affected customers globally across a number of its products, and thousands of UK bank customers experienced payment problems in June 2024, with the affected banks including HSBC, Nationwide, Barclays, and Virgin Money.

A Barclays spokesperson said the bank was "incredibly sorry for the ongoing technical issues" affecting customers' accounts.

"Some may see an outdated balance, and payments made or received may not show," they said.

"We're working hard to fix this issue, and customers should not try to make the payment again."

"Customers can use their cards and withdraw cash, and as soon as these remaining issues are resolved, we'll let our customers know," the spokesperson added.

They said Barclays was keeping its call centres open for longer on Saturday and Sunday and that it would be "proactively contacting customers who may be vulnerable".

Additional reporting by Liv McMahon and Kris Bramwell