HSBC UK Customers Suffer Digital Outage During Black Friday

Harry Wilson, Bloomberg News

The HSBC Holdings Plc offices in the Canary Wharf business, financial and shopping district in London, UK, on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. HSBC Holdings Plc has been looking for alternatives to its docklands skyscraper as it looks for a more flexible workspace and adapts to the post-Covid cityscape, and said its preferred option is BT Group Plc’s former head office near St Paul's Cathedral. Photographer: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- HSBC Holdings Plc said its UK mobile and digital banking services were getting “back up and running” after a disruption during the Black Friday sales.

HSBC UK customers earlier reported problems with accessing online banking, while the London-based firm said it was investigating the problems as a “matter of urgency” in a message posted to its account on X, formerly known as Twitter. It later added that the issue stemmed from its “internal systems.”

A spokeswoman for HSBC UK said in an emailed statement that the bank was aware of problems with its online systems, in particular the authorizing of card purchases via its mobile banking app. Customers are still able to opt to confirm purchases via a one-time code sent to them by text message.

“We understand this is really frustrating for some of our customers, and we are really sorry for the inconvenience,” said the spokeswoman in the statement.

The bank said that customers of its First Direct and M&S Bank affiliates were unaffected by the problems.

--With assistance from James Hertling.

(Updates with services resuming)