The bank said delayed payments had been processed and it was working on “bringing balances up to date for some of our customers and addressing any outstanding issues”.

On Friday when the outage began, customers told the BBC they were having trouble with mobile and online banking and making essential payments.

The technical issues were not caused a cyber attack, it is understood, but the bank has not explained what was behind the problem or how many customers were affected.

“We are very sorry for any disruption and will ensure that no impacted customer is left out of pocket,” a Barclays spokesperson said on Sunday.

“We are keeping our call centres open for longer this weekend and we will be proactively contacting customers who may be vulnerable.”

Barclays is one of the UK’s largest banks, with over 20 million UK retail customers.

On Saturday, the website downdetector, which monitors outages, showed nearly 5,000 issues had been reported with Barclays, more than double the number reported on Friday.

On Saturday afternoon, Barclays’ website said problems with its app and online banking were ongoing, and warned customers that they may face issues making and receiving payments.

The website also told customers that their high street branches may not be able to assist with all queries “due to issues we’re facing”.

The Bank confirmed on Sunday that customers could now use its services as normal.

Friday, which was pay day for many people in the UK, was the deadline for self-assessment tax returns.

Some Barclays’ customers said they were unable to make their payments to HMRC.

A statement from HMRC said it was working closely with the bank to minimise the impact on those submitting self-assessments.

It confirmed that issues related to the Barclays outage would not result in late payment penalties as these do not apply until March 1.

On X, the bank advised customers facing difficulties accessing their money to seek support from friends and family or to get in touch with food banks.

In response to one user who said they were unable to access their account, the bank posted a link to the Trussell Trust, a charity which runs food banks nationally.

Emily from Exeter told the BBC that she was spending the weekend on a friend’s sofa after being unable to move into her new house.

“I’m effectively homeless with my two children and two cats,” she said, adding that her children were staying with family.

“My removal van is abandoned with everything I have in it,” the 44-year-old said.

“I’m a single mother who has worked incredibly hard for this and to be left homeless is indescribable.”

Customers have told the BBC they are unable to make essential transactions, ranging from buying baby milk to completing a house move.

Barclays said on Saturday that cards and cash machines could be used as normal – though some customers have said this is not the case.

A Barclays spokesperson said the bank is “working hard to fix the issue” and that it will “ensure that no impacted customer is left out of pocket”.

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The outage began on Friday, which was pay day for many people in the UK, and the deadline for self-assessment tax returns.

Barclays has not explained the cause of the IT problems or how many people are affected.

On Saturday afternoon, Barclays’ website indicated that problems persisted with its app, and warned that customers may face issues making and receiving payments.

The website also told customers that the bank may not be able to assist with all queries in branches “due to issues we’re facing”.

Customers replying to Barclays’ announcement about the outage on social media have reacted with fury while reporting a series of problems it is causing them.

One said their card had been declined despite them having funds – another said that her January wages “had disappeared”.

A family has told the BBC they cannot move into their new house because of the outage, branding the situation “ridiculous”.

Scott, 27, and his wife, who is four months pregnant, said they had sold their house on Friday morning, but the money for their new home had not gone through yet due to the problems at Barclays.

Scott told BBC News they were effectively homeless, and had been left waiting in their car at a service station in Horsham, West Sussex.

“Because the system is down, the money can’t go through,” he said.

“We just have to sit and wait.”

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Ruth, 39, a self-employed cleaner, told BBC News she had been trying to access money with her partner from their savings account for several hours so she could buy milk for a baby and food for five other children she is looking after at home.

“We need the money to do shopping, our money is all in savings,” she explained.

“I’ve got my granddaughter here who’s 11 months old, also a one-year-old, two-year-old, 12-year-old, 13-year-old, 15-year-old all at home.”

She said she had been able to get some help from her teenage daughter, but said others might not be so fortunate.

“There could be many single mums in the same situation with no access to money,” she told the BBC.

Barclays is one of the UK’s largest banks, with over 20 million UK retail customers. It says it processes over 40% of the UK’s credit and debit card transactions.

Website downdetector, which monitors outages, says thousands of people have flagged problems at the bank.On Saturday morning, it showed more than 4,000 issues had been reported with Barclays, more than double the number reported on Friday.

Taking to social media, one mother said she could not buy milk for her baby due to the issues at Barclays.

“My four-month-old is out of milk powder and screaming for a feed and I still haven’t been paid,” she said.

“I’ve been in tears for hours.”

Tax return anxiety

Friday was the deadline for self-assessment tax returns, and some customers have said the outage has left them unable to make payments to HMRC.

Earlier on Friday, HMRC warned that millions of people have still not filed their self-assessment tax returns, and warned of £100 fines for those who did not meet the deadline.

However, in statement to the BBC, HMRC said it was “working closely” with Barclays to minimise any impact on customers filing their self-assessments.

A spokesperson added: “Our services are working as normal, so customers will be able to file their returns on time.

HMRC added that Barclays issues “will not result in late payment penalties as they don’t apply until 1st March”.

In a statement, Barclays said: “We’re in direct contact with HMRC and they are aware of the technical issues with our system.”

It added: “We will ensure that no customer is left out of pocket because of delayed payments caused by this incident.”

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Outage after outage

It is not the first time banking app customers have been left unable to access funds or make payments.

PayPal suffered a brief but notable outage in November that impacted customers globally across a number of its products, including its cryptocurrency services and popular US peer-to-peer payment app, Venmo.

IT outage exposes fragility of tech infrastructure

From WhatsApp to Greggs – why is tech going down more?

Thousands of UK bank customers were affected by payment problems with some of the biggest lenders in June last year, with banks including HSBC, Nationwide, Barclays and Virgin Money all impacted by issues with a system that facilitates payments between individuals and companies.

Some cash-strapped customers continued to feel the effects of the issue for days afterwards.

BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, said the problems with Barclays showed the importance of robust computer systems.

“Once again this goes to show how cyber-security and digital resilience is so tightly integrated into our lives,” said Dan Card, BCS’ cyber-security expert.

A Barclays spokesperson said the bank was “incredibly sorry for the ongoing technical issues” affecting customers’ accounts.

“Some may see an outdated balance, and payments made or received may not show,” they said.

“We’re working hard to fix this issue, and customers should not try to make the payment again.”

“Customers can use their cards and withdraw cash, and as soon as these remaining issues are resolved, we’ll let our customers know,” the spokesperson added.

The bank is the latest company to make changes to its flexible working policy that has been largely in place since the Covid pandemic, saying it recognised the importance of staff collaborating in the same place.

Barclays sent a memo to many of its 85,000 employees stating that they would now need to come into the office three days a week instead of two.

Front office or client-facing staff, including investment bankers, are already required to be in the office five days a week.

Barclays has had a hybrid working model in place for some time.

“We recognise the benefits of balancing flexibility for colleagues with the importance of working together to collaborate in our physical locations,” a spokesperson for the bank said.

“Our minimum time in-office requirements vary between business areas depending on the nature of work and needs of the business.”

Barclays’ tighter working-from-home rules, first reported by the FT, come after JPMorgan announced staff would be required in the office five days a week from March.

Earlier this year, Lloyds Banking Group said office attendance would be taken into account when deciding bonuses for senior executives.

Lord Sugar, star of the BBC show The Apprentice, said on Thursday he wants to see all workers back in the workplace.

The 77-year-old said he thought the problem was a lot of young people “just want to sit at home”.

“I’m a great advocate of getting them back to work, because the only way an apprentice is going to learn is from his colleagues,” he said.

Lord Rose, the former boss of Marks and Spencer and Asda, recently told the BBC that home working was part of the UK economy’s “general decline” and employees’ productivity was suffering.