Major UK banks, such as Barclays, HSBC, Nationwide, and Virgin Money, were hit with payment issues on Friday. A group handling the payments system confirmed that the problem has now been resolved and the backlog cleared. However, several customers stated that they are still experiencing problems and even have little or no cash available. The bank glitches occurred on the last Friday of the month, which is also payday for many salaried staff and when most people have bills to pay.
One customer stated that they could not buy a train ticket they needed in the next hour as their bills bounced. They believed that inconvenience deserved compensation. Ryan, a 29-year-old engineer from Telford, reported not receiving his wages and therefore only had £12 in his account, resulting in his bills starting to get declined. Ryan said, “I’m supposed to be moving home next week and my savings have been emptied, for deposits and rent.”
The banks were affected by issues related to the Faster Payments system, which facilitates real-time payments between millions of individuals and businesses. The system regulator, Pay UK, confirmed that only a small number of payments were slow. However, banking customers have disputed the claims of delayed or returned payments and stated that they still have not received salary payments.
HSBC, Nationwide, Barclays, and Virgin Media have apologized to customers for the delay in payment, but that is not the first time that High Street lenders have faced technical issues. Nationwide and HSBC customers experienced similar issues in March and November 2020, respectively
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