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BACS Bank Holiday BALLS UP borks 275,000 payments
Employees left cashless. Planning to go away this weekend? Not anymore
Update III Potentially millions of employees expecting to be paid ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend have been left without their salaries due to a cockup with the Bankers' Automated Clearing Services (BACS) payment system.
The issue mainly appears to be affecting HSBC customers, which has blamed BACS.
An HSBC spokeswoman said: "We are aware that some customers have not received expected credits today. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible."
People took to micro-blabbing site Twitter to complain:
@HSBC_UK_Help Why are you not commenting on the global BACS payment issue? it's bank holiday weekend.
— Alex Morsy (@Morsyalex) August 28, 2015
@HSBC_UK Can you update us on the problems you're having with your BACS system which has meant that @EDPDrugAlcohol staff have not been paid
— EDP Drug & Alcohol (@EDPDrugAlcohol) August 28, 2015
@MartinSLewis are you aware of the HSBC BACS issues? Thousands of employees whose companies bank with HSBC haven't received wages!
— Elspeth Hardie (@eahardie) August 28, 2015
The Register asked HSBC if the 275,000 payments referred to organisations or individuals awaiting their salaries. A company mouthpiece said HSBC could not provide specific detail but vowed to provide an update once it knows more. ®
Update
A spokesman from BACS said: “Bacs is aware of an isolated issue affecting one of its member organisations. The Bacs system is operating as normal and we are currently working with our partners to help resolve this as quickly as possible.”
Second Update
HSBC has issued a statement:
There has been a fault in the information used to process some payments from HSBC business customers. Approximately 275,000 payments have been affected, including payments to customers of other banks.
HSBC apologises for the inconvenience this has caused. We are taking immediate steps to ensure the payments reach beneficiaries as quickly as possible. We will work with other banks to ensure that customers do not lose out as a result of today's problems.
Third Update
HSBC issued a further statement on Friday evening, in which it promised to get all payments processed within the next 24 hours.
It said:
HSBC apologises for the significant inconvenience caused to customers by today’s payments problems.
We are now processing the payments so that they reach the beneficiary accounts as quickly as possible. The majority of payments will be completed over the course of the afternoon and early evening, with any remaining payments completed overnight.
We are committed to ensuring that no one loses out as a result of today’s unacceptable problems. We will work with our customers and the other banks including providing compensation where appropriate.
Customers who do not receive the delayed payment by Saturday morning should speak with their bank in the first instance. They should also contact their bank if they have suffered any costs as a result of today’s problems.