Bank glitch customers still waiting for payments

Business owner Peter Carroll

Some bank customers are still waiting for payments to go through after a glitch hit several high street lenders on Friday.

Thousands of people who bank with HSBC, Barclays, Nationwide and Virgin Money were told that the problem had been fixed, after an issue hit the system that operates payments between individuals and firms.

However, while many people saw payments clear before the end of the week, others have told the BBC they are still waiting.

Peter Carroll, who runs public affairs company Tendo and banks with Virgin Money, said that 12 of his 16 employees have still not been paid.

“We keep being told it’ll be sorted by the end of the day,” he said. “But we’re now on the third day and we’re still waiting.

“We are really concerned that tomorrow, people might have standing orders or rent payments due."

A spokesperson for Virgin Money said that "new payments are now flowing normally and we’ve cleared the backlog over the weekend to resolve delayed payments."

They added: “We sincerely apologise to our customers for the inconvenience and we’re grateful for their patience.”

However, Mr Carroll said his payments had so far not cleared.

Pay UK, which operates the payment system, said that it was "continuing to work with our customers, the banks, to ensure that services return to normal."

Hasan Boyraz, who works in security in London, was offered a shift this weekend – but had to turn it down because he couldn’t afford the travel after not being paid on Friday.

“I’ve only got a couple of quid,” he told the BBC.

Like many, Mr Boyraz was expecting to received his monthly salary on the last Friday of the month, which made the timing of the glitch particularly problematic.

He said his manager tried repeatedly to process his monthly pay, but said it kept “bouncing back,” from his Barclays account.

Mr Boyraz had to cancel plans and stay at home this weekend, but is hopeful that the issue will be resolved by Monday, when his phone bill is due.

Barclays has been contacted for comment.

HSBC, Nationwide, Barclays and Virgin Media all apologised on Friday for the delays to payments.

Following reports of customers still waiting for payments, Nationwide said its backlog had been cleared on Friday.