Barclays has advised customers to seek help from friends and family or even contact food banks after a major IT glitch left some locked out of their accounts.

Hundreds of people reportedly claim they are experiencing interrupted services and missing funds after the issue struck on what was payday for many British workers and the deadline for self-assessment tax returns.

The bank has apologised to those affected, saying the company is facing ongoing technical issues, and promised no one would be left out of pocket.

But its handling of complaints has provoked an angry reaction online.

Customers have posted on X that they were unable to buy shopping for themselves and their young children, pay their bills or withdraw cash.

But the bank insists its ATMs are unaffected.

In a new statement after complaints online, Barclays said: “We are proactively contacting vulnerable customers to offer dedicated help and support. Their calls are being prioritised on our telephony lines meaning their calls get answered first.

“Our ATMs are unaffected by this technical issue so customers can withdraw cash and use their cards to make payments.”

Bank’s response criticised as ‘triggering’

On social media site X, in response to one user who said her household “has no access to money”, the Barclays UK Help account asked: “Are there any friends or family who can offer support?”

When she said she didn’t and criticised the reply as “so triggering”, the bank’s X account posted links to the Trussell Trust, a charity that runs food banks, and Citizens Advice, which offers help for a range of problems.

Further afield, David Marsh and his new wife, from Cumbria, told Sky News they had been locked out of their account while on their honeymoon in Australia.

And Karen Bannister, 52, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, said she had transferred all her money into her Barclays account to pay her bills but the funds never arrived.

“My card got declined at the supermarket which was completely embarrassing and by 9pm I was without heating because my gas had run out,” she said.

‘My four-month-old is out of milk powder’

One mother said she was unable to buy milk for her baby due to the glitch.

“My four-month-old is out of milk powder and screaming for a feed and I still haven’t been paid,” she said in a post on X.

“I’ve been in tears for hours.”

Another customer said: “Due to you Barclays I’m left without money had a food shop due for delivery this morning which now will get cancelled, leave my four kids with no food it’s a joke as [it is] my money.”

One asked: “How can I eat and keep warm if I can’t get to my funds?”

And another said: “Well I’ve just had to put all my shopping back in Tesco – never been so embarrassed in my life… as can’t access my own money.”

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‘We’re incredibly sorry’

Barclays has been posting apologetic responses to the complaints.

A spokesperson for the bank said earlier: “We’re incredibly sorry for the ongoing technical issues that are impacting our customers’ accounts.

“Some may see an outdated balance, and payments made or received may not show.

“We’re working hard to fix this issue, and customers should not try to make the payment again.

“Customers can use their cards and withdraw cash, and as soon as these remaining issues are resolved, we’ll let our customers know. We will ensure that no impacted customer is left out of pocket.”

In a statement, HMRC said it is “working closely” with Barclays to minimise any impact on those submitting their self-assessments.

An HMRC spokesperson said: “Our services are working as normal, so customers will still have been able to file their returns on time.

“Also, the issues will not result in late payment penalties as they don’t apply until 1 March.”

NatWest Group is finalising plans to pay out close to £450m in bonuses for last year as it prepares for a return to full private ownership nearly 17 years after its bailout.

Sky News has learnt that the bank’s remuneration committee is close to signing off the bonus pool ahead of its annual results announcement later this month.

The figure of roughly £450m will be about 25% higher than last year’s bonus pot of £356m, reflecting NatWest’s sharply improved performance in 2024, according to City sources.

Shares in the bank, which at one point was more than 80%-owned by British taxpayers, have nearly doubled over the last 12 months.

The Treasury has been rapidly reducing its stake in NatWest, with it now standing at just under 8%.

This weekend, Sky News can also reveal that the state will cease to become the company’s single-biggest shareholder within a matter of weeks, based on the current pace of the government’s trading plan, which drip-feeds stock into the market.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, holds a stake in NatWest of roughly 6%, meaning it could replace the Treasury as NatWest’s biggest investor as early as this month.

That would represent another significant milestone for NatWest’s board, chaired by Rick Haythornthwaite.

In October, the bank raised its profit outlook after posting a 26% rise in third-quarter income.

After its shares closed at 433.1p on Friday afternoon, it now has a market capitalisation of close to £35bn.

Last year, Sky News revealed that NatWest was planning to hand its chief executive a potential multimillion pound pay boost as it returns to full private ownership.

Lena Wilson, the chair of the bank’s remuneration committee has been consulting leading institutional shareholders about an overhaul of its boardroom pay policy, with the proposals to be put to a vote at its spring AGM.

Under the plans, Paul Thwaite, who took over as the bank’s interim chief executive in July 2023 before being handed the role on a permanent basis in February, would be in line for an increase in his maximum annual bonus from 100pc of his base salary to 150%.

NatWest also intends to replace its restricted share plan (RSP) for Mr Thwaite, which awarded him stock worth a maximum of 150% of his salary, with a performance share plan (PSP) which could pay him up to three times his basic pay each year.

Assuming his salary of just under £1.2m remains unchanged, that would mean him being in line for a maximum reward package – excluding pension contributions and other items – of about £6.6m, up from roughly £4.2m today.

The prospective increase would bring Mr Thwaite’s compensation more closely into line with peers including Charlie Nunn at Lloyds Banking Group and CS Venkatakrishnan at Barclays – who himself is expected to see his annual pay capped at just over £14m under a new policy.

Mr Thwaite replaced Dame Alison Rose after she was forced to step down over the debanking row involving Nigel Farage, the Reform Party leader.

Leading City investors who have been part of the consultation process are said to be overwhelmingly supportive of the pay overhaul.

During its previous incarnation as Royal Bank of Scotland, the bank encountered annual controversy over its remuneration – for its chief executives and the wider workforce.

In the immediate aftermath of its £45.5bn rescue by taxpayers during the financial crisis of 2008, the pension package of Fred Goodwin, RBS’s former chief, and bonuses awarded to his successor, Stephen Hester, became political headaches for the governments of Gordon Brown and David Cameron.

In recent years, however, such conflagrations have been defused by a combination of pay restraint and improved performance.

Even after the recent recovery in its valuation, taxpayers will see a loss running to billions of pounds from NatWest’s emergency bailout.

A NatWest Group spokesperson declined to comment.

A newlywed couple say they have been locked out of their bank accounts while on their honeymoon as Barclays suffered a major IT glitch.

People were unable to access money overnight after the issue struck on what was payday for many British workers.

Hundreds of customers reportedly claim they are experiencing interrupted services and missing funds, with some alleging they have had no access to their cash for nearly 24 hours.

David Marsh and his wife, from Cumbria, told Sky News they’ve been experiencing problems accessing their money while on holiday in Australia to celebrate their marriage.

“I’m unable to receive money for my honeymoon into my current account or use my current account to clear my credit card before departing,” he said.

“My message to Barclays is: I’ve been a current account holder with Barclays since 1986. The day I return to the UK, I will be moving my current account to another provider and leaving them.”

What has Barclays said?

Barclays has apologised to customers, saying the company is facing ongoing technical issues.

It warned that some people may see an outdated balance, and payments made or received may not show.

“We will ensure that no customer is left out of pocket,” the bank said in a statement on Saturday.

Mum ‘unable to buy milk’

A mother claimed she was unable to buy milk for her baby due to the IT glitch.

“My four-month-old is out of milk powder and screaming for a feed and I still haven’t been paid,” she said.

She added: “I’ve been in tears for hours.”

‘Money never arrived in my account’

Karen Bannister, 52, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, told Sky News: “I had transferred all my money into Barclays to cover paying for gas, electric, rent, petrol, food etc. The money never arrived in my Barclays account.

“My card got declined at the supermarket which was completely embarrassing and by 9pm I was without heating because my gas had run out.”

“Yesterday was awful. Barclays need to pay compensation to those affected. People were without salary and some couldn’t pay their tax before the deadline.

“Following this, I’m leaving Barclays – and I’ve been a customer for 40 years.”

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Frustrated customers have also been reaching out to Barclays support via social media.

“Due to you Barclays I’m left without money had a food shop due for delivery this morning which now will get cancelled, leave my four kids with no food it’s a joke as (it is) my money,” one X user claimed.

Another added: “How can I eat and keep warm if I can’t get to my funds?”

A third person claimed: “Well I’ve just had to put all my shopping back in Tesco never been so embarrassed in my life .. as can’t access my own money.”

The Down Detector tracker has shown more than 1,600 reports of outages for Barclays banking services since Friday.

In its statement on Saturday, Barclays said: “We’re incredibly sorry for the ongoing technical issues that are impacting our customers’ accounts.

“Some may see an outdated balance, and payments made or received may not show.

“We’re working hard to fix this issue, and customers should not try to make the payment again.”