Customers of Barclays Bank who were locked out of the mobile banking app and internet banking services for several days following a major IT outage earlier this year have started to receive compensation.
In March, the bank said it expected to pay between £5m and £7.5m in compensation « for inconvenience or distress » caused by the outage. It is also set to pay an estimated £5m for other incidents between January 2023 and 2025.
The Sun has now reported that customers who lost out financially should be receiving a ‘specific code in their mobile app payment feeds – « Barclays UK Refu », which will be followed by the payment amount.
Thousands of customers were unable to pay bills, check if their salaries were paid, or even pay their tax return to HMRC before the deadline for self-assessmentwhich fell on the Friday when the outage started.
The Sun has also reported that some customers have received a letter through the post outlining the amount, although the letters may have been sent out after the money appeared in accounts.
Users took to social media site X, saying they had had money paid into their Barclays account with @notnekz writing: ‘Barclays just refunded me 600?? Idk what’s going on down there but I will be taking that money.’
It was not clear whether the £600 was for January’s IT outage or previous incidents.
Following the outage Barclays said it would be paying out millions in compensation due to a series of technical glitches that have prevented customers from accessing their funds and paying bills.
Barclays acknowledges that « through no fault of their own, some of our customers and clients may have suffered loss or distress and inconvenience » and was working to ensure no customer is out of pocket as a result of the incident.
While banks do not legally have to pay compensation if there is a service outage, you may be able to put in a claim if you have been charged because you were unable to make a payment or access your cash.
In the first instance, speak to your bank, but if you are not happy with any compensation offered, you can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service
Several of the UK’s largest banks have been hit by outage issues this year including Nationwide Lloyds, Halifax and First Direct
Some Barclays customers claimed they were left homeless because they were unable to complete on house purchases while others racked up late payment charges becasue the outages occuring on or around pay day.
Barclays confirmed it had started paying customers compensation.
