October 26, 2009

Another Barclays system crash hits branches and online banking

Customers in branches and online left frustrated

By Leo King, www.computerworlduk.com

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Key IT systems at Barclays crashed this morning, hitting online and in-branch banking, as well as ATMs, in the latest of a number of IT problems at the bank.

The issues, affecting customers and branch staff linking into Barclays’ central systems, resulted in queues in branches and frustrated online users attempting to access their account information.

At times branch customers were either unable to pay in and withdraw money, or experienced delays. A number of online customers were either unable to log in to their accounts or conduct transactions at normal speed.

Today’s problem began at 10.30, but was largely resolved around 12pm, Barclays said. Nevertheless the system remained slow in some areas, and branches experienced lengthy queues today as they attempted to serve the influx of lunch time visitors.

A spokesperson at Barclays apologised to customers and said the bank was “not yet sure of the root cause” of the problem, but that it was conducting an investigation. “We’re working hard to get the systems running normally as soon as possible,” she added.

A number of Barclays customers expressed their frustration on Twitter. “Barclays’ internet banking and IT system is down...again.... what a joke,” wrote Peril49.

Ruthritz added: “So Barclays systems crashed and I can’t withdraw money from a machine or a cashier. They said I could ‘come back later’. Seriously?”

In June, a disc array fault left thousands of Barclays customers unable to access their bank accounts online or withdraw money from cash machines in the south of England for a three hour period.

Barclays could not say if the problem today was related. But after June's problems it insisted it had "substantial plans and systems in place to cope with these type of situations".

A year ago, its website malfunctioned twice in the period of a fortnight, leaving customers unable to login and access their accounts.

Meanwhile, Barclays is extensively cutting its IT workforce. In May, it emerged that the bank would cut 700 IT staff by the end of the year, reportedly offshoring work to Singapore, Hungary and India.

Barclays announced today that it is buying Standard Life bank, the offshoot of the Standard Life insurance firm, for £226 million.

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