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Santander banking down as customers unable to make online or card payments as banks slammed for IT failures
We've explained you rights to compensation
HUNDREDS of Santander customers have been left unable to make payments due to an outage that started earlier this afternoon.
Over 600 customers have reported problems with the high street bank's services on the outage-tracking website Downdetector.
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Over 68% of the issues reported related to customers reporting that they are unable to make instant payments.
A further 17% report that they can't make card payments either.
Frustrated customers have taken to social media to share how they were being affected by the outage.
One customer said on X (formerly Twitter): "Santander please sort your mobile banking out at a pub and i can't even transfer money."
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Another said: "I can't even transfer money from one Santander account to another.
"I hope you're not going to charge me for being £3 overdrawn."
A third said: "I can't do back transfers between accounts or to my payees. What's going on?"
A spokesperson for Santander said: "We aware that customers are currently unable to access some of our services.
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"We’re very sorry for the inconvenience this is causing and are urgently working to fix the problem.
"We would like to reassure our customers that no customer will be left out of pocket."
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The outage comes just hours after the Treasury Committee released its findings on the scale of recent IT failures.
The committee – a cross-party group formed of 11 members – asked the lenders' UK chief executives to reveal the scale of recent IT failures and estimates for how much customers might be paid in compensation.
A letter to the committee from Barclays' chief executive, Vim Maru, revealed that the bank could potentially pay up to £12.5million in compensation to customers impacted by its service outages.
The Treasury Committee's said that, over the past two years, nine of the UK's largest banks and building societies have experienced more than 33 days of unplanned technology and system outages.
Barclays had the highest number of outages (33, totalling 93 hours), while NatWest had the longest downtime (194 hours, across 13 outages).
Since January 2023, Santander has faced 24 outages, with total downtime estimated to exceed 116 hours.
Despite this, the high street bank has received only a "low volume" of complaints and has consequently paid out just £17,000 in compensation.
How do I claim compensation after an outage if I'm left out of pocket?
Banks are not obligated to provide to customers for service disruptions in the same way telecom companies are.
However, if you have incurred additional costs directly as a result of a service issue, you may be entitled to reimbursement.
For example, if a bill payment fails to go through due to an outage and you are charged a late payment fee, you should be able to claim that money back.
Similarly, if your credit rating is impacted or you are penalised with late payment fees because a transaction could not be completed, it’s important to keep a record of these incidents.
Banks will generally assess claims on a case-by-case basis, taking into account individual circumstances.
However, if you've been impacted you should lodge a formal complaint.
To do this, contact your bank and provide a detailed record of all instances where you faced additional costs, charges, or fees as a direct result of the service disruption.
This could include photocopies of bank statements showing missed payments, receipts, invoices, or other evidence of expenses incurred.
For more specific guidance, you can visit your bank's complaints page.
If you are unhappy with the compensation offered you have the option to escalate your complaint.
This can involve taking your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which offers an impartial review of disputes between customers and financial institutions.
The FOS can usually get involved 15 days after you first raised concerns with the bank.
For IT system outages at a bank, the FOS says the compensation depends on your situation and if you lost out as a result.
But if it thinks your bank has done something wrong and treated you unfairly, the FOS can ask it to put things right on your behalf.
It could include telling the bank to pay compensation to:
- Make sure you do not end up out of pocket
- Recognise the inconvenience and trouble you've been through
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It can also tell the bank to take steps to ensure you’ve not lost out any other way - for example by telling it to correct your credit file.
To launch a complaint with the FOS, visit financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/how-to-complain.
How can I check if my bank is down?
THERE are a few different ways to find out if your bank is experiencing an outage.
Senior consumer reporter Olivia Marshall explains how you can check.
If you're trying to send money to someone, or you just want to check if you have enough cash for a coffee, finding your online banking is down can be a real pain.
Most banks have a dedicated news page on their website to show service problems, including internet banking, mobile apps, ATMs, debit cards and credit cards.
You can also check on any future work they have planned and what it might mean for you.
Plus, you can check websites such as Down Detector, which will tell you whether other people are experiencing problems with a particular company online.
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