HSBC issued a public apology to thousands of customers on Wednesday after widespread disruption to its mobile and online banking services. The banking giant confirmed users were experiencing difficulties accessing digital platforms, with the outage affecting customers across the UK.
The disruption began around midday, with thousands of reports flooding the Downdetector website. HSBC acknowledged the scale of the problem in a statement released just before noon.
Service restoration and impact
An HSBC spokeswoman confirmed services were restored by the afternoon: "Mobile and online banking services are back up and running following an earlier issue. We apologise to our customers who were impacted, and we'll continue to monitor systems closely."
The company had earlier stated: "We understand some customers are having issues accessing banking services right now. We're really sorry and are investigating as a matter of urgency."
Technical details emerge
According to Chronicle Live, customers encountered a specific ERR03 error code when attempting to access their accounts. However, BBC reports that card payments remained unaffected during the outage, allowing customers to continue making purchases.
The timing proved particularly problematic, as Evening Standard reports the outage coincided with payday for many workers. This amplified customer anxiety as people attempted to check salary payments and manage finances.
Broader HSBC Group affected
First Direct customers also experienced disruptions on the bank's platforms, indicating the outage extended beyond HSBC's main services to affect the broader banking group.
The incident highlights ongoing reliability concerns across UK digital banking, with industry data showing major banks have experienced 803 hours of outages since 2023.
Sources used: "Liverpool Echo", "BBC", "Chronicle Live", "Evening Standard"
Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
