Computer fault stops Barclays transactions

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A computer glitch left thousands of Barclays customers without the ability to make transactions over the weekend, according to reports.

The technical problem hit at around 2pm on Saturday, a period of high retail activity, and not only affected cash machines and card transactions, but telephone and online banking services as well.

Some had to leave their purchases at the tills, whilst the Barclays telephone banking centres were reportedly showered with customer complaints.

Barclays admitted there had been a problem, but a spokesman for the bank told IT PRO the problem had been fixed quickly.

The spokesman was unable to expand on the provenance of the computer problem and could not give an exact figure for how many customers were affected.

“We were aware of the problem, which was treated as a priority," the spokesman explained. "The issue arose on the Saturday and the problem was resolved earlier that day – it was resolved quickly.”

“We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused.”

In the UK alone, Barclays has more than 1,720 branches and over 15 million customers, and in the 2010 Reader's Digest Trusted Brands survey, Barclaycard was voted the most trusted credit card brand in the UK.

Earlier this month, it emerged hackers had targeted one unnamed UK bank, compromising around 3,000 customer accounts and taking £675,000.

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