Marketplace All-in-One Are digital banking outages on the rise?
May 26, 2025
Digital banking promises convenience but comes with risks, as seen in a major outage at Barclays. Customers are increasingly facing interruptions, with a mother’s story highlighting the personal impact. Experts discuss the growing trend of failures in the UK and US, emphasizing the vulnerabilities in concentrated banking systems. They also share tips on how to navigate these disruptions and stress the importance of choosing licensed institutions protected by compensation schemes.
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Family Displaced by Bank Outage
- British mom Emily McAllister and her daughter were left without a home for three days due to a digital banking outage at Barclays.
- The outage delayed funds transfer needed to complete their house purchase, causing significant distress especially due to her daughter's disabilities.
IT Failures Create Customer Distress
- UK banks faced 803 hours of IT failures over two years, equating to 33 days of lost service.
- Such outages cause real distress, especially for customers living paycheck to paycheck.
Concentrated Banks Increase IT Risk
- The UK's bank concentration makes the system vulnerable to IT problems.
- Increasing reliance on digital transactions heightens risk during system failures.