HUNDREDS of Tesco Bank customers were locked out of their credit card accounts and left unable to make payments due to a system outage earlier today.
Customers reported being unable to log into the Tesco mobile banking app and online banking platform.
DownDetector reports showed that over 600 customers had encountered issues with the bank’s online services this morning.
More than 50% of the reported problems related to difficulties with mobile banking, while 35% of users experienced trouble accessing Internet banking.
Others claimed they had been unable to use their credit card for online payments.
Frustrated customers took to social media to express their concerns.
One person posted on X (formerly Twitter): “I cannot log on to mobile app or internet banking.
“When trying to get on to internet banking, I get a message saying that Tesco is having difficulty sending a one-time code to my phone.”
Another said: “Are they down? I’ve been trying to pay Tesco bank bill online for the past two days with no luck.”
One customer who says their card payments have been declined said: “I’m constantly getting ‘This service is not available’ when trying to make a credit card payment online.”
However, another added: “I’ve made card payments online since the website and app went down but even telephone banking can’t access accounts.”
Tesco confirmed that the issue was resolved at 5pm on Tuesday.
A spokesperson said: “We were aware of a technical issue that temporarily affected credit card customers from servicing their accounts and declined certain payments.
“We’ve been working hard to get this fixed and are pleased to report we’re now back up and running.
“We thank customers for their patience.”
Tesco Bank provides a variety of personal banking and insurance products, including personal loans, credit cards, car insurance, and pet insurance, to over five million customers.
In February, Barclays agreed to purchase Tesco’s retail banking division, which included the acquisition of nearly 3,000 employees.
While Barclays will run these services, they will continue under the Tesco Bank name.
Plus, Tesco Bank will retain some of its banking activities, including insurance, ATMs, travel money and gift cards.
The sale still needs to be approved by regulators and it is expected to be completed before the end of 2024.
Tesco Bank stopped offering mortgages through its bank in 2019 after seven years.
It’s 23,000 mortgage loans were sold to Lloyds Banking Group, which Halifax is part of, for around £3.8billion.
Tesco Bank also offered current accounts, which were closed to all customers in November 2021.
THERE are a few different ways to find out if your bank is experiencing an outage.
Senior consumer reporter Olivia Marshall explains how you can check.
If you’re trying to send money to someone, or you just want to check if you have enough cash for a coffee, finding your online banking is down can be a real pain.
Most banks have a dedicated news page on their website to show service problems, including internet banking, mobile apps, ATMs, debit cards and credit cards.
You can also check on any future work they have planned and what it might mean for you.
Plus, you can check websites such as Down Detector, which will tell you whether other people are experiencing problems with a particular company online.
Banks don’t have to pay out compensation to customers if there has been a drop in service, unlike how telecoms companies have to.
But if you have incurred costs as a result of service issues, it’s likely you could get your money back.
For example, if a bill payment didn’t go through as a result of an outage and you’ve been charged a fee for missing it, you should be able to claim that money back.
If your credit rating has been affected by a service outage, because you got a late payment fee after being unable to make a transaction, for example, you should also keep a record of this.
If you spoke to anyone to try and resolve the problem, make a note of their name and when you spoke to them, as well as roughly what you discussed and what they advised you to do.
You can find out more details about how to complain on the bank’s website.
It is worth gathering evidence of your problems so you can make a formal complaint to the bank directly.
If you’re unhappy with how the bank dealt with your problem, you can contact the free Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
It is an independent body that will consider the evidence you present and make a fair decision about the action a bank should take.
The FOS can usually get involved 15 days after you’ve raised concerns with the bank.
In the case of an IT system outage at a bank, the FOS says any compensation depends on your circumstances and whether you lost out as a result.
If it thinks you did, it has the power to tell the bank to reimburse any fees, charges, or fines you were hit with, for example, if you were unable to make a payment on a credit card bill or to your mortgage provider.
It could also tell a bank to pay you for any money you didn’t receive, such as interest, if you weren’t able to pay money in.
If your credit score was affected, it may tell the bank to correct your credit file.
The FOS might also tell the bank to reimburse you for any extra costs you had to make, such as phone calls or trips to your local branch, as well as a payment for any inconvenience it caused.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories
EASTENDERS is lining up a brutal assault as Nish Panesar plots his sickening revenge against ex-wife Suki and her new love Eve Unwin.
The killer – who is played by actor Navin Chowdhry in the BBC soap – manipulated his way into ex-wife Suki Panesar’s engagement party by using his grandchildren.
He somehow managed to convince daughter-in-law Habiba to agree to send her son to visit them, before telling Avani and Nugget who begged for Nish to be included.
Suki and Eve relented and invited Nish, letting him see how happy they were together – but it backfired.
“You don’t mind about the kids wanting their grandad here?” asked Suki in what she thought was a private moment.
Eve told her: “Well I am marrying your whole family so… I mean i did maybe think we’d have one evening without him…”
Suki told her they would have tomorrow with their grandson – but Even told her he would be there too, adding: “As if he’s going to miss the chance to show another heir that he’s actually human.”
But Suki assured her: “No, half a day for him and half a day for you and me. And when little Ti goes home babbling on about how amazing you are, maybe he’ll see how fantastic it is to have two grandmothers showering him with love. Maybe then, Habiba will agree to us seeing him regularly.”
Eve added: “And then by then he won’t even remember his long dead grandad that he once spent half a day with.”
But as the women cackled at Nish’s imminent demise, he was shown to be listening to every word – and his face hardened.
Heading outside he made a call and put a devastating plan into action.
Watching Eve and Suki on the balcony, he told someone on the phone: “Not too much, just rough her up a bit.
MICHELLE Collins has seen her second EastEnders stint boost her bank balance. Yet what stars have quit this year?
The Sun exclusively reported how Michelle, 62, was down to £20,000 in her company accounts when she agreed to a shock back-from-the-dead return to Albert Square last year.
Her character, Cindy Beale, was presumed dead off-camera in 1998.
Yet what about the 2024 exits?
Earlier this summer, loyal soap fans appeared to note how Stevie Mitchell had “quit” the long-running series.
It came after Alan Ford enjoyed just six-months on-screen.
Bobby Beale actor Clay Milner Russell also left this year after five years in Walford.
Fans also feared Martin Fowler actor James Bye would “quit out of boredom” over recent storylines.
Additionally, a host of stars have quit the BBC soap for Hollywood fame.
One of the most successful stars to come from the BBC One soap is Rob Kazinsky.
He played Stacey Slater’s brother Sean Slater from 2006 to 2009, he has starred in Hollywood blockbusters Pacific Rim and Captain Marvel.
Ben Hardy, who quit EastEnders as Bobby Beale almost a decade ago, went on to break Hollywood the following year, when he starred as Archangel in X-Men: Apocalypse.
Since then, he has played Roger Taylor in Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, and he starred in Michael Bay’s Netflix movie 6 Underground.
Michelle Ryan played Zoe Slater until 2005.
She starred as the lead in short-lived American series Bionic Woman from 2007 to 2008.
“Enough to put her in hospital for a decent stretch…”
It’s not yet known which of the women Nish is planning on having attacked but neither will be safe from his vicious revenge.
FUNERAL directors must be regulated to stop rogue operators, warn experts investigating the NHS morgue monster David Fuller.
Fuller was sentenced to life in prison for murdering two women and sexually abusing the bodies of more than 100 at hospitals in Kent.
Sir Jonathan Michael, chair of the inquiry into his crimes, said the funeral industry needs urgent reform.
He said he has sped up his work due to “recent distressing reports”.
Three people were arrested in the summer in connection with a funeral home in Hull, East Yorks, after families found loved ones’ remains had been mixed up or lost.
Past incidents have seen bodies treated inappropriately or left to rot in funeral parlours.
NHS hospital mortuaries have also been found to be too small, too warm or not properly secured.
Anyone can set themselves up as a funeral director and keep the bodies in their garage without anybody being able to stop them. That cannot be right
Sir Jonathan Michael
The Fuller inquiry found funeral directors do not need a licence, qualifications or training, and described the sector as an “unregulated free-for-all”.
Sir Jonathan said: “It is clear to me that many people believe or assume that the sector is already regulated, and they are shocked to find this is not the case.
“The fact is that anyone can set themselves up as a funeral director.
“They could do it from their home and keep the bodies of the deceased in their garage without anybody being able to stop them.
“That cannot be right.
“My hope is that publishing this interim report now will assist both the Government and the funeral sector itself to take steps that assure the public that care in the funeral sector is fit for purpose.
“We need a regulatory regime that will not tolerate any form of abuse or any practices that compromise the security and dignity of the deceased.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “The Government is committed to preventing any similar atrocities happening again and ensuring
that the deceased are safeguarded and treated with dignity.”
MORGUE monster David Fuller was free to assault dead women for 15 years due to “serious failings” at the hospitals where he worked, a report found.
The double killer abused at least 101 women while working at mortuaries in Tunbridge Wells Hospital and at the former Kent and Sussex Hospital.
A probe found there were “missed opportunities” to stop the necrophiliac’s 15-year rampage.
His youngest victim was a nine-year-old girl and the oldest was 100 years old, with Fuller sometimes violating the bodies more than once.
Inquiry chairman Sir Jonathan Michael said: “Failures of management, of governance, of regulation, failure to follow standard policies and procedures, together with a persistent lack of curiosity, all contributed to the creation of the environment in which he was able to offend, and to do so for 15 years without ever being suspected or caught.
“Over the years, there were missed opportunities to question Fuller’s working practices.
“Had his colleagues, managers and senior leaders been more curious, it is likely that he would have had less opportunity to offend.”