On one of the most anticipated days for spending in the calendar, Black Friday shoppers who also happen to be HSBC customers have been left out of the party due to the bank’s mobile banking blackout.
Earlier today, thousands of reports from customers began flooding the Downdetector website, indicating that they have a problem with HSBC’s online banking service.
It took the bank a few hours to investigate, after which it responded to the complaints with a post on X where it offered an alternative to all consumers who were unable to use their cards for online payments.
Commenting on the issue, 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.”
HSBC has gradually shifted its focus from physical services to digital banking, being one of the several high-street banks to close a significant number of branches throughout last year.
