Barclays has issued a response to angry customers who demanded compensation after an IT glitch locked them out of their accounts for two days.
The high street bank says the issue, which is now fixed, will not result in customers being penalised for missed deadlines.
It comes as bosses apologised to those affected when technical problems caused disruption to services and payments over the weekend.
The bank said the issue had been resolved this morning and delayed payments processed.
The outage, which is not believed to be cyber attack, began on Friday, the same day as the January payday for many British workers and the deadline for self-assessment tax returns.
Anyone who failed to pay on time would run the risk of being hit with a fine of up to £100.
But a Barclays spokesman said: ‘We’re incredibly sorry for the ongoing technical issues that are impacting our customers’ accounts.
‘Some may see an outdated balance, and payments made or received may not show.
It’s one of the most popular banking apps across the UK, but it appears that Barclays is still down
Angry crowds have gathered outside a Barclays branch after an IT glitch yesterday caused thousands to be left without access to their funds
‘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. We will ensure that no impacted customer is left out of pocket.’
Those who have been impacted are instructed to contact Barclays directly to ask for compensation.
DownDetector, a website monitoring outages, showed more than 5,038 people encountered problems with the bank’s online services.
In a statement, HMRC had said it was ‘working closely’ with Barclays to minimise any impact on those submitting their self-assessments and that HMRC services were ‘working as normal’.
Any issues related to the Barclays outage will not result in late HMRC payment penalties as these do not apply until March 1, a spokesman added.
Videos were posted on social media last night of people surging to ATMs to withdraw ‘free money’.
Some of those taking out cash may not have seen their balance go down, though this would likely update to the right amount when the IT glitch is fixed.
Outage tracking site Down Detector, showing there had been thousands of reports of service issues logged since Friday
A view of the Downdetector map for Barclays’ this morning
The Barclays’ website showing what services were down this morning
‘So, they all going have massive overdrafts on Monday morning’ one person commented.
‘There’s no way they’d form an orderly queue’ another said.
Among those who had been affected by the outage was civil servant Paola Mereu, 39, who said her family had been left homeless after the payment for their new house had not gone through.
Mrs Mereu sold her home in Uxbridge, where she lived with her husband and two daughters aged one and seven, and the family were supposed to move into their new house in West Sussex on Friday.
She said: ‘We drove down to (West Sussex on Friday) and we had all our things in a moving van and were waiting outside and unfortunately, around one o’clock, my solicitor calls and says Barclays is having some issues and we are unable to complete the sale.
‘So we sold our house – we had the money from that – but we were unable to complete the other part of the sale so we are essentially homeless.’
‘It took us so long to get this dream house and yesterday was meant to be the happiest day of our lives and instead, we ended up homeless,’ she added.
Mrs Mereu said her family are currently staying with her mother in London with the moving van containing all their belongings parked on the driveway.
Videos posted on social media show huge queues by ATMs as people line up to take out ‘free money’
Unlike telecoms companies, banks are not obligated to pay out compensation to customers if there has been a drop in service.
Anyone whose credit rating has been affected by the service outage because of a late payment fee is advised to keep a record of this, gather evidence, and make a formal complaint to the bank.
And those unhappy with how the issue is handled are asked to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for free.
