HSBC says it has resolved an issue that left customers in the UK unable to access its online banking services or mobile app on Wednesday. The disruption began at around 11:00 BST and lasted for five hours, with thousands of people reporting problems through the outage-tracking site Downdetector.
In a statement, the bank apologised: “We apologise to our customers who were impacted, and we’ll continue to monitor systems closely.”
Frustration Builds Amid Branch Closures
Many customers took to social media to express frustration, with some calling the outage “very worrying.” Others pointed out that technical issues feel even more disruptive now that bank branches have been closing across the UK.
HSBC announced in 2022 that it would close 114 branches. It later pledged not to shut any more until 2026, but critics argue the damage to accessibility has already been done.
A Wider Problem in the Industry
HSBC’s outage is the latest in a series of disruptions affecting UK banks. In May, several major banks admitted that more than 1.2 million customers were impacted by technical failures in 2024 alone.
A March report highlighted the scale of the issue, revealing that nine major banks and building societies collectively suffered 803 hours of outages — the equivalent of 33 full days — since 2023.
Author’s Opinion
The HSBC outage shows how fragile digital banking can feel when customers have fewer alternatives. As banks close branches and push people online, outages aren’t just inconvenient — they cut people off from vital financial services. A five-hour outage may not seem catastrophic, but when combined with the trend of shrinking physical access, it creates a sense of instability that erodes trust. If banks want to maintain confidence, fixing outages quickly isn’t enough. They need to prove they can prevent them in the first place.
Featured image credit: Dennis Sylvester Hurd via Flickr
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