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Thousands facing bank holiday without pay after HSBC system failure Thousands facing bank holiday without pay after HSBC system failure
(35 minutes later)
HSBC customers have been left without their salary and other payments as it emerged that the bank is suffering an as yet unknown IT problem. Thousands of people have been left without their salaries because of an IT glitch at HSBC that means employers who use its business banking accounts cannot make payments.
The bank issued a statement on Friday following complaints from customers on Twitter and through its helplines that they could not access funds. Reports began emerging on Friday morning of workers who have been left without pay on the Friday before bank holiday weekend.
The bank said: “We are aware that some customers have not received expected credits today. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.” The bank has suffered a problem with the electronic payments system its business banking customers use to make, among other things, salary payments.
HSBC customers writing on Twitter were mostly concerned about not getting paid their salary. “None of our 150 staff have been paid, which before a long weekend is a disaster,” the owner of one business told The Guardian. “HSBC are very non-committal as to whether any monies will clear between now and Tuesday when the banks reopen and it’s causing a huge concern for our young workforce who were relying on their pay before the bank holiday.
Alan Charlesworth, who is the managing director of an insurance and legal recruiter, tweeted that none of his staff had been paid on Friday morning. “HSBC when will this be sorted?” he tweeted. She added: “Most have been forced to go over their overdrafts and some will literally be left with no funds until it’s resolved.”
Customers such as Lydia Smith claim the bank’s problems had caused them to become overdrawn. Alan Charlesworth, managing director of an insurance and legal recruiter, tweeted that none of his staff had been paid on Friday morning. “HSBC when will this be sorted?” he tweeted.
The problem appeared to surface early on Friday morning, although as recently as 8.30am the bank was tweeting people to say it was not aware of the problem. It is not yet known how many business banking customers are affected but they make up a significant proportion of the bank’s 16.1 million UK customers. The number of people relying on payments from HSBC’s business accounts is likely to run into thousands if not millions.
Later in the morning, the bank admitted it had a problem with BACS payments. Direct debits and deposits are made using BACS, the system that is responsible for the electronic processing of financial transactions within the UK. Salaries are not the only payments affected by the IT failure. Businesses that bank with HSBC are finding they are unable to pay their suppliers, with the online banking facilities temporarily closed.
HSBC said it did not have any more information, including how many people have been affected, until it had fully investigated the problem. Charlotte Abbot, who runs PrintHut.co.uk based in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, says she has been deeply frustrated by her inability to make payments this morning.
“I can’t pay any of our suppliers at the moment. I need to pay a few this morning, and it it keeps coming up with error warnings online.”
Hundreds of people have already taken to Twitter to express their concern.
Originally it had seemed that only workers with HSBC accounts were affected but it later transpired that the problem is with businesses who hold accounts with the banking giant. The payment problems have therefore hit customers who have accounts with any of the UK’s banks or building societies.
The problems appeared to have started in the early hours of Friday morning, although as recently as 8.30am the bank was tweeting people to say it was not aware of the problem.
Doug Silkstone from Bristol told The Guardian: “We normally get paid at midnight on the last working day of the month. This means that the problem probably started from sometime on Thursday evening.
“For me, it’s a real problem because I have repayments, rent and overdraft fees to worry about, as well as a bank holiday weekend to miss out on.”
The bank has told its customers that it is having a problem with BACS payments. Direct debits and deposits are made using BACS, the system that is responsible for the electronic processing of financial transactions within the UK.
It said in a statement: “We are aware that some customers have not received expected credits today. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
The bank said it did not have any more information, including how many people have been affected, until it had fully investigated the problem.
Have you been affected by the glitch? Get in touch via the form below:Have you been affected by the glitch? Get in touch via the form below: