Um, Yeah…

Barclays had a meltdown.

Angry crowds have gathered outside a Barclays branch after an IT glitch yesterday caused thousands to be left without access to their funds for more than 24 hours.

Many have taken to social media to hit out at the firm and demand compensation for the problems, which leading experts have warned could cost the bank millions.

This morning the bank apologised to its customers, acknowledging ‘intermittent errors’ with their payment system and assuring that they were ‘working to fix this as quickly as possible.’

I had a problem with Barclays last year when they froze my accounts, and it caused me grief. I sorted it and took my business elsewhere. I can understand why people would be annoyed as we have come to rely on a cashless society with many places not taking cash anymore. However, the bit that niggled with me was this.

The delays in fixing the IT issues have been made worse by the fact that the outage coincided with January payday for many workers and the deadline for self-assessment tax returns, leaving some unable to make payments to HMRC.

Okay, anyone leaving this to the last minute is bringing problems on themselves. I paid mine last week. Late enough to get as much interest as I could on the funds, but early enough to avoid any last minute glitches. It’s just sensible planning. Leaving it to the last minute is self-inflicted, frankly, and I have no sympathy.

5 Comments

  1. We plan things now to maximise our benefits. Leaving it until the last minute makes sense. It’s not like oxygen where if you miss the deadline you die.

    I think keeping fund from these thieves for as long as possible is a public good.

    The whole thing isn’t an issue because Barclays will have to pick up the fines anyway to compensate the people impacted, just as they will pick up and late payments on peoples CC bills and other transactions.

    I don’t understand how these things happen in this day and age but the only people really going to feel it are those that live from day to day and couldn’t buy their groceries or top up their *cough* SMART meters.

    • I leave it to as close as possible, that being a couple of days before the final rush. I balance the loss of a couple of quid in interest against the raised blood pressure.

  2. I’ve been careful to keep two current accounts in two radically different organisations. I have two debit cards from the current accounts and one credit card in a third organisation.

    Doesn’t mean to say I’m insulated from all risks, but I should be able to pay my immediate bills.

  3. “Doesn’t mean to say I’m insulated from all risks, but I should be able to pay my immediate bills.”

    I’m with you there, @DJ. I was checking out the weekly supermarket shop (trolley piled high) and discovered my card had been blocked. What could have been a big embarrassing drama never got the chance, as I was able to provide a choice of other cards.

    The people who leave paying HMRC to the last minute are the same ones you hear complaining that their life has been ruined because they missed their holiday flight due to roadworks on the M25. And don’t have a plan B for cooking and heating during power cuts.

  4. As a retiree (boring!) I am no longer required to do Self Assessment. When I did do it, didn’t the tax returns have to be submitted by 31 January? Rachel’s (or whoever it was) Thieving Gits then ran them through the abacus to decide how much I needed to pay and I had to pay later in the year?
    But yes, Credit card from Bank #1, Debit cards from #1 and #2. Oh, and they are real banks, not Sainsbury’s.

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