Barclays set to pay out £12.5m in compensation to | European Markets

Barclays may pay up to £12.5 million in compensation to prospects affected by technology outages over the previous two years, in accordance with a new letter despatched to MPs. There was more than 33 days’ value of unplanned tech and system outages within the final two years for 9 of the UK’s greatest banks and building societies, in accordance with new knowledge printed by the Treasury Committee.

The committee, a cross-party group of 11 members, had requested the UK chief executives of these lenders to reveal the extent of latest IT failures and supply estimates for buyer compensation. It comes after a main outage on the finish of January prompted days of disruption for Barclays prospects, coinciding with payday for a lot of and the self-assessment tax return deadline.

Barclays confirmed that over half of makes an attempt to make online funds during the incident have been unsuccessful.

The bank has estimated that it’s going to pay between £5million and £7.5million in compensation for the latest outage, along with an anticipated £5million for different incidents occurring between January 2023 and January 2025.

“We acknowledge that through no fault of their own, some of our customers and clients may have suffered loss or distress and inconvenience,” UK chief government Vim Maru wrote within the letter printed by the Treasury Committee.

The outage was brought on by a software program concern within a half of the bank’s UK mainframe working system and was not the consequence of a cyber assault, Barclays knowledgeable the committee.

Based on the estimates offered, a minimum of 158 IT failure incidents have been reported throughout 9 banks and building societies between January 2023 and February 2025.

That determine doesn’t embrace Barclays’ latest outage or disruptions to different banks’ online providers in latest weeks.

Widespread causes given for the incidents embrace issues with third-party suppliers, disruption prompted when systems have been modified, and inner software program malfunctions.

MP Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Treasury Committee, stated: “The fact there has been enough outages to fill a whole month within the last two years shows customers’ frustrations are completely valid. The reality is that this data shows even the most successful banks and building societies hit technical glitches. What’s critical is they react swiftly and ensure customers are kept informed throughout.”

She added: “I am particularly thankful to those who are compensating their customers well for the stress they endure and would encourage all to reflect on whether they are doing enough in that regard.”