BARCLAYS has started paying out free cash to customers affected by a major outage earlier this year.
The bank is in the process of issuing payments to select customers following the glitch, which first hit in January.
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The vast majority of payments will be made by the end of today, while more complex cases may take longer.
Customers eligible for the cash should be receiving a specific code in their mobile app payment feeds – “Barclays UK Refu”, followed by the payment amount.
It’s not clear how payments will show up on online banking accessed through computers or via paper banking statements.
Qualifying customers should have received a letter through the post outlining the amount they will get.
However, it is understood some of these letters may arrive after payments are issued, which could leave some customers surprised if they see the money appear in their accounts.
The amount that customers impacted by the outage will get is expected to vary from case to case.
It comes after a number of Barclays customers posted on social media platform X in recent days baffled over mystery payments landing in their banks, with some receiving up to £600.
One customer posted: “Did anyone else randomly receive 50 pounds from Barclays?”
A second said: “Barclays just refunded me £600?? I don’t know what’s going on down there but I will be taking that money.”
And a third commented: “Does anyone have any idea why Barclays would send me a payment for £50?”
Meanwhile, a fourth added: “Why did Barclays just give me money?”
What was the outage and will I get cash?
Thousands of customers were hit by the Barclays outage, which first struck at the end of January and on payday for many.
The outage lasted several days, with customers unable to access their online accounts or send payments.
January 31 was also the deadline to file online self-assessment tax returns and pay tax you owe HMRC – so some users were left stuck.
Customers of the major high street bank took to social media fuming as the technical issues lingered for days.
One customer said on X (formerly Twitter): “My balance is still not right?
“I’ve also not received a payment! When will this be fixed, please?”
Another said: “My balance still hasn’t been updated for four days and your ‘chat’ fails to be of any help.”
The Sun recently spoke to a single mum who was left homeless after the recent Barclays IT glitch stopped them from completing on their new house.
Following the outage, Barclays said it was proactively reaching out to affected customers to offer them redress.
Exactly how much you might get depends on how badly you were impacted and for how long.
Last month, Barclays revealed in a letter to MPs it was preparing to issue payouts to customers hit by an outage since January 2023.
Vim Maru, Barclays UK chief executive, wrote in the letter published to by the Treasury Committee: “We acknowledge that through no fault of their own, some of our customers and clients may have suffered loss or distress and inconvenience.”
The bank estimated it will pay out around £5million for outages between January 2023 and January this year.
This is in addition to the up to £7.5million it set aside solely for customers affected by the outage which struck at the end of January and lasted until early February.
There has been more than 33 days’ worth of unplanned tech and system outages in the last two years for nine of the UK’s biggest banks and building societies, according to data published by the Treasury Committee.
Barclays had the highest number of outages (33, totalling 93 hours), while NatWest had the longest downtime (194 hours, across 13 outages).
How can I check if my bank is down?
THERE are a few different ways to find out if your bank is experiencing an outage.
Senior consumer reporter Olivia Marshall explains how you can check.
If you’re trying to send money to someone, or you just want to check if you have enough cash for a coffee, finding your online banking is down can be a real pain.
Most banks have a dedicated news page on their website to show service problems, including internet banking, mobile apps, ATMs, debit cards and credit cards.
You can also check on any future work they have planned and what it might mean for you.
Plus, you can check websites such as Down Detector, which will tell you whether other people are experiencing problems with a particular company online.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories
