HUNDREDS of Co-Op Bank customers are struggling to access online banking or the app.
According to Downdetector, which shows companies suffering outages, there were just under 260 reported issues as of 2.50pm this afternoon.
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Over half of the issues relate to online banking and the remaining amount are customers who can’t login online or on their mobile.
The majority of the issues are occurring in London.
A Co-Op Bank spokesperson said: “We are currently experiencing an issue with our app, online banking and automated telephone services which is as a result of an external internet issue which is also impacting other organisations in the local area.
“We want to assure our customers that we are working co-operatively with the third party to fix the problem as soon as possible in order to resolve services.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused at this time.”
Frustrated customers have taken to social media following the outage.
One said: “The co op bank app is down again, and I need to access my account urgently.”
Another said: “Your website doesn’t work. Plz fix, I have bills to pay.”
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One user said: “Can’t log into my account. Tried three different browsers. Private mode and normal.”
Co-Op Bank went down last September with users reporting issues accessing their accounts.
Services were back up and running within a couple of hours.
Can I claim compensation for an outage?
Unlike telecoms companies, banks aren’t obliged to pay out compensation to customers if there’s been an outage or if they’ve experienced technical issues.
But you might be entitled to some money back depending on how much the disruption affected you as a consumer.
To make a claim, you have to present evidence of how the outage negatively affected you, including any extra costs incurred.
This might be because you were charged for making a late payment for example.
You should make a note of when you were unable to access the services and also the names of the people you spoke to at the company who suffered the outage.
If the bank doesn’t resolve your complaint, you can take your case up with the Financial Ombudsman Service.
It is an independent body which will resolve any issues based on what it thinks is “fair and reasonable” depending on the circumstances of the case.
The service can resolve your issue over the phone, by email or post depending on what best suits you.
In the case of an IT system outage at a bank, the FOS says any compensation you may receive will be dependent on your circumstances and whether you lost any money as a result.
If it finds the bank was at fault, you may see any fees, charges or fines reimbursed.
