Due to an “internal system issue” HSBC mobile and online banking services have crashed on Black Friday which is set to be the “busiest ever.”
HSBC customers have been left unable to shop on Black Friday as services crashed shortly before 9am on Friday morning.
HSBC said that they are working to restore the online and mobile banking services, but have advised that purchases can be made via SMS code which will allow customers to shop online.
“We understand this is really frustrating for some of our customers, and we are really sorry for the inconvenience,” HSBC said.
HSBC said that the disruption was caused by an “internal system issue” and an update will be made available to their customers as soon as possible.
On Friday Nationwide Building Society said that shoppers have been buying more this year than last and by midday 3.22 million transactions was made, this is 14% higher than any other Friday and compared to last year’s Black Friday this is 5% higher.
Nationwide added that it is also 13% higher than Black Friday in 2021, which comes as retailers have launched sales and shopping deals in the run up to Christmas.
Mark Nalder, director of payment strategy at Nationwide, said the data suggests that “this year’s Black Friday is going to be the busiest one ever.”
Sam Richardson, deputy editor of Which? Money, said, “This HSBC outage will cause a real headache for a lot of its customers. In the worst cases it could prevent people making essential payments such as rent and bills, but it also falls on Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, where many people will be looking to make significant savings on big-ticket items.
“We strongly advise customers that have been left out of pocket to keep evidence of extra expenses they may have incurred as a result of the outage, so they can be claimed back from HSBC.
“People want a bank they can depend on, and if IT outages become a regular occurrence, consumers could be tempted to vote with their feet and switch to an alternative provider – particularly with a lot of tempting switching incentives on offer at the moment.
“Having a back-up bank account or credit card can help, by giving consumers a way to make essential payments during outages like these.”
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