LONDON: Thousands of HSBC customers in the UK were unable to access their online and mobile banking services on Friday, November 24, 2023. The outage occurred on one of the busiest online shopping days of the year, Black Friday, as consumers flocked to retail websites to take advantage of deals.
According to Downdetector, a website that tracks website outages and complaints, more than 4,000 customers reported being unable to access their HSBC accounts via the bank's mobile app. The outage began shortly after 7:00 GMT and peaked at around 9:00 GMT.
HSBC acknowledged the problems on its Twitter account, writing: "We understand some customers are having trouble accessing banking services as usual right now. We are working hard to resolve the issue and will provide an update as soon as possible."
The outage caused frustration and inconvenience for many customers, who were unable to check their account balances, make transfers, or pay bills. Some customers also reported being unable to authorize online card purchases.
The outage is the latest in a series of technical glitches that have plagued British banks in recent months. In October, Barclays customers were unable to access their online and mobile banking services for several hours. And in September, TSB customers were left without access to their accounts for days after a major system failure.
The outages have raised concerns about the reliance of banks on digital technology. As more and more people switch to online banking, the potential for widespread disruption is increasing.
HSBC has said that it is working to improve its systems to prevent future outages. However, the recent spate of problems has raised questions about whether banks are doing enough to protect their customers from digital disruption.
