'Literally the worst timing ever': HSBC banking services crash amid Black Friday frenzy

ITV News Consumer Editor Chris Choi reports on the badly timed crash in HSBC's banking services

HSBC Bank has left thousands of its customers furious after some of its services crashed on Black Friday.

Customers said they have been unable to make card payments online or via the app on what is largely considered to be one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

The bank apologised in a statement, saying the problem was caused by an "internal systems issue" that started shortly before 9am on Friday.

“We’re working hard to restore HSBC UK’s mobile and online banking service, including the authorising of online card purchases via the app," the company said in the statement.

“We understand this is really frustrating for some of our customers, and we are really sorry for the inconvenience,” it added.

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HSBC apologised to its customers after their services crashed during Black Friday. Credit: PA images

The bank said that customers of their brands First Direct or M&S Bank had not been impacted.

Angry customers took to social media to vent their frustrations.

One user on X - formerly known as Twitter - said: “Literally the worst timing ever. People got paid and have bills to pay.”

Another wrote: “Got to move some money so I can buy some Black Friday purchases (that I don’t need) Maybe it’s a sign!”

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Sam Richardson, the deputy editor of Which? Money, said that customers should "keep evidence of extra expenses they may have incurred as a result of the outage, so they can be claimed back from HSBC".

“Having a back-up bank account or credit card can help, by giving consumers a way to make essential payments during outages like these," Richardson said.

The bank did not say how many customers had been affected by the issue. HSBC has around 14.8 million customers across the UK, according to its website.

The bank previously announced it would close 114 branches in the country in 2023 because more of its customers were using online banking.

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