NATIONWIDE has promised customers that were hit by outages yesterday a refund, especially if they were charged for any late payment fees or similar.
The almost day-long hault of the building society’s services panicked Brits as they were left without wages and payment access just days before Christmas.
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Issues began at around 7am yesterday, but it was hours before services came back online.
The issue was resolved late last night, allowing all payments that had been queued to eventually go through.
But for many that would have been too little too late, especially if they had important direct debits waiting to go out.
A Nationwide spokesperson said: “We apologise for the delays that members have experienced in sending and receiving faster payments.
“We will also refund all Nationwide charges and fees incurred as a result of this issue.”
If you experienced any charges and fees from another source though, you’re advised to get in touch with the society to discuss these.
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But it’s only guaranteed that any related to this issue will be refunded.
As more problems were reported throughout the day yesterday, Nationwide revealed that it couldn’t accept payments into accounts from outside of the building society itself.
It enraged Brits who needed to access their own funds for Christmas shopping or grocery bills and more.
They made desperate pleas with the provider to get things back up and running as quickly as possible.
Many explained how it was important as they “really need use of the money”, exclaiming how “absolutely ridiculous” the situation was for cash-strapped Brits at such an expensive time of year.
Angry customers took to social media to complain as well, with many distraught that wages had not arrived.
One said: “Let’s talk about compensation for those waiting on money who’s got no food because of your company, don’t worry I’ve complained that you’ve left me hungry.”
Banks will typically offer customers compensation if they are affected by outages or payment issues, just as Nationwide has promised.
It will depend on the situation though, and the bank is not always obliged to do this.
Many have before though, earlier this year Santander promised customers affected by a similar outage that they would not be left out of pocket.
TSB said the same after a major meltdown of its IT systems back in 2018.
There’s no automated system for applying for compensation from banks or building societies if you’ve been left out of pocket.
While the building society has promised refunds, you will need to make a complaint to Nationwide directly and keep a note of any calls or online chats you have with them.
If you’ve incurred a fee, for instance a missed bill payment, because of the outage keep evidence of the issue to show how you’ve been affected.
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