Nationwide payment outage on 22 December leaves customers waiting for wages

Nationwide customers reported having to wait for their wages days before Christmas after a payment outage on 22 December, and some complained that Direct Debits bounced¹. The building society, the UK's largest, experienced a similar issue on 31 December, and on Tuesday 4 January introduced a queueing system after a surge in payments on the first working day of the year¹. In February a technical issue delayed faster payments, which were temporarily queued again, and on 28 February Nationwide apologised after customers were hit by a technical glitch¹. Which? reports that the building society has had four faster payment problems in recent months¹.

On the February incident, Nationwide said Bacs payments were unaffected, meaning Direct Debits and standing orders were not affected, and that cards, internet banking and ATM cash withdrawals continued to work¹. A spokeswoman said:

After the December problems, a Nationwide spokesman said normal services resumed as "quickly as possible", that specialist teams were in place to ensure no members would be left out of pocket, and that the society apologised for the inconvenience "particularly at such a busy time of the year"¹. The spokesman also said: "In 2018, we began a multi-billion-pound investment in our technology and systems leading to even greater reliability and functionality for the direct benefit of our members"¹.

Nationwide has paid £60 in compensation to customers affected by the issues on 4 January, when around 20,000 customers' Direct Debits failed because of the queueing system¹. The building society said it had contacted and compensated those customers, and that any member who experienced additional issues as a result of recent payment delays could contact it to discuss their circumstances¹. It stressed the compensation applied to customers affected on 4 January and not to the two previous incidents in December¹.

Why it matters for households

The disruption affected people's access to money at the point it was expected: wages arriving before Christmas, and Direct Debits due around the first working day of the year. Some customers said the issues caused fees from bounced Direct Debit payments and worried that a missed payment would affect their credit score¹. One customer, Kathleen Reid, told Which? in December she was forced to cancel services and was left with no cash to buy food¹. Another, Clare Muir from Gloucestershire, who has banked with Nationwide since 2007, said she felt "vulnerable" when the December issue happened because she was waiting for money, and that her mortgage, credit card, current account and savings accounts are all with Nationwide¹.

Where a payment goes wrong, the bank's duties and the route for complaints are set out in our guide to when a payment goes wrong. Compensation when systems go down is covered in our guide to compensation when your bank's systems go down, and the rules on how firms treat customers are explained in Treating Customers Fairly. The difference between the two payment types is set out in Direct Debits and standing orders.

The Financial Ombudsman Service says customers can claim for losses incurred in the event of a bank's IT outage, but that the success of any claim depends on individual circumstances¹. Nationwide has said members who experienced additional issues from recent payment delays can contact it¹. It has not been reported whether compensation will be offered for the December incidents.

What happens next

No further dated steps have been reported. Nationwide has said affected members can contact it to discuss their circumstances, and that complaints can be raised through its online complaints portal, with unresolved complaints going to the Financial Ombudsman Service¹. Which? notes that a bank account can be switched in seven working days where the provider is part of the Current Account Switch Service¹.