Why are banking apps and websites often offline? And what should you do if an IT disaster occurs at your home?

Customers of HSBC, Nationwide, Barclays and Virgin Money are experiencing payment issues today (Friday 28 June 2024).

Our guide below explains what to do if your bank experiences an IT crisis…

It’s always annoying when you can’t access your money because your bank’s app or website is inexplicably down.

You refresh the app or web page over and over again, but get the same frustrating message: “We’re sorry, an error has occurred.”

Customers were hit hard last month when NatWest became the latest major bank to suffer an outage.

It meant thousands of people were unable to log into their accounts or access their money for three hours.

This is Money investigates why banks go bankrupt and what you can do if you no longer have access to your money.

Why do banks go bankrupt?

The first thing to do if you think your bank’s services might be down is to check whether this is a problem that other customers are having, and not just a problem with your own connection.

Most banks have a status service page online so you can check if it is a widespread issue that has been reported.

> Check out our overview of the five best checking accounts

Andrew Hagger, founder of MoneyComms says: ‘IT failures can take many forms. It could be isolated, so it could just be an app, online banking or ATM network that is unavailable.

“On the other hand, it could be a total failure that shuts everything down, but that’s less likely.

‘All financial services providers should have a copy of any systems they may switch to, as part of a wider IT disaster recovery plan, to minimize disruption to customers.’

Problems with banking apps and websites can also be caused by software updates, upgrades, or errors in hardware components.

Hagger adds: “However, all software updates must go through a strictly controlled change management system and only go live after being tested on non-live or development versions of the website.

‘It could even be a problem with database space availability, but these types of issues need to be monitored closely as part of IT service management’s daily maintenance checks.

‘Sometimes problems are caused by inefficient legacy IT systems, especially where banks have merged and had different hardware and operating systems that are not as seamless as they could be.

‘Cyber ​​attacks can lead to services being brought to a standstill, but the security of banks’ IT systems is of paramount importance and is taken very seriously by individual banks and regulators.’

Here are our top tips for what to do if your bank goes bankrupt.

1. Have a second bank account

One of the most important things to do is to have a second bank account with access to online banking. You don’t have to keep a huge balance.

Andrew Hagger says: ‘If you have a separate account and debit card, you can make payments. Additionally, if you have a separate online savings account, you should be able to transfer money to your second account while your main account is idle.’

2. Keep a cash reserve

When your bank fails, the simple things we take for granted become a source of worry.

Keeping a cash reserve that you could use in an emergency is a good way to save yourself in case your banking app goes down.

Obviously you can’t pay the bills with cash, but it can get you out of trouble if you have to go to the shops or pay for parking, for example.

3. Submit a complaint to your bank

If you are not satisfied with your bank’s service due to malfunctions, you can file a complaint.

You can submit a complaint in person, by telephone or in writing by letter or e-mail, depending on the way you bank.

Make a note of the date you contact them to file the complaint.

It may be important if you want to deal with the complaint later, for example by going to the Financial Ombudsman. He requires that you give your bank eight weeks to respond.

4. Keep track of the time of the outage

At certain times of the month, banks are more likely to experience outages, such as at the end of the month when many people receive their money and want access to their banking.

Certain banks may also schedule maintenance on their banking apps in the early hours of the weekend and must notify you in advance via the app.

If your bank goes bankrupt, make a note of the time the outage occurred, just in case.

5. Change checking account

If you experience frequent outages, you can switch to a checking account with a bank that has not experienced a recent crisis.

Some banks will even pay you to switch. Six banks are also currently offering cash bonuses for switching current accounts of up to £200.

First Direct, Lloyds and Santander are offering £175 to switching customers, TSB is paying £100 cash upfront and £10 cashback per month for six months to switchers, while Nationwide is paying £200 to existing members who have a mortgage or savings account but don’t have a current account.