Thousands of customers of major UK High Street banks experienced payment issues, affecting institutions such as HSBC, Nationwide, Barclays, and Virgin Money. The problems stemmed from

a glitch in the system that handles transactions between individuals and businesses.

The organization responsible for overseeing the payment system reported that the issue has been resolved and the backlog of payments has been cleared. However, numerous customers took to social media to express their frustration, with some noting that their salaries had not been deposited into their accounts.

The timing of the disruption was particularly inconvenient, as the last Friday of the month is when many people receive their paychecks and have bills due. One customer lamented, "My bills are bouncing, and I can’t pay for a train ticket I need in the next hour." Another suggested that customers deserve compensation for the "inconvenience on people’s payday," adding, "We all have bills to pay."

Ryan Hubble from Telford shared that he had not received his wages, leaving him with only £12. The 29-year-old engineer noted that his bills were being declined and expressed concern as he was supposed to move home next week, having depleted his savings for deposits and rent.

The disruption was linked to issues with the Faster Payments system, which facilitates real-time transactions between millions of individuals and businesses in the UK. Pay UK, the body that oversees the system, stated: "We are aware that a small number of Faster Payments were delayed or not processed earlier today. Working with our infrastructure provider, this technical issue has been fixed." Later, they confirmed that "payments have returned to normal and the backlog is resolved."

HSBC, Nationwide, Barclays, and Virgin Money had all issued apologies earlier in the day for the payment delays. This incident is not the first time services from High Street banks have been disrupted by technical problems. Photo by Tintazul, Wikimedia commons.